Igby Goes Down (2002)

Igby Goes Down

• I only watched this because Kieran Culkin is in it, and by the end, it felt like a very “meh” film. It wasn’t bad at all, as there’s great character development, good performances, and an interesting story. However, the whole thing felt bland to me. There were good moments all throughout, but as a whole, there just wasn’t that much flavor to it. I think the structure with the story-telling was a bit shaky and almost scattered. Like everything that happened was kind of smushed together and blended all together, not in a super great way. That may totally just be me, it’s just how it felt to me. But that was really my only big concern. As I said, the writing around the characters was good, and it’s easy to find Igby relatable yet frustrating. You want to help him and sometimes smack him, and by the end, it’s all kind of like, “Wow.” Kieran does such a good job as always and I love how he’s able to fit the both young and mature personalities this character needs. Well, I definitely don’t think I’d necessarily say Igby is “mature”, but if you’ve seen this, hopefully you know what I mean. Anyways, the rest of the cast is great too, with the incomparable Jeff Goldblum showing up, and good stints from Sarandon and Pullman. Overall, this film is maybe just a little bit over mediocre, but far from anything amazing. It also did feel a little bit like other coming-of-age films around the time this was released, so there’s that. I may watch this one again to see if it hits harder the second time, and I would probably recommend this to most coming-of-age fans.