The Automatik

I’m wincing as I type this, but if you can imagine Catcher in the Rye as penned by Bret Easton Ellis, then you’ve got a pretty good idea of what it feels like watching Igby Goes Down. In this era of homage and ripoff, it’s difficult to find truly original filmmaking. Despite being somewhat derivative, Igby Goes Down manages to breathe life into the clich�d “poor little rich boy” schtick that we’ve seen many times before.

The casting is excellent and the dialogue is crackling. I can’t remember the last time a screenplay sparkled with so much delicious, witty (and realistic) sarcasm. I love Claire Danes as an involuntary bitch, Susan Sarandon as a mother from hell and Amanda Peet as a kept junkie. Ryan Phillipe walked straight out of the pages of F. Scott Fitzgerald with his signet ring, uppercrust pout and frighteningly snooty East Coast accent. Even Jeff Goldblum does a very nasty and un-Jeff Goldblum turn as Igby’s godfather. But oh, that Kieran Culkin. His presence exceeds his years.

Culkin gleams so sharply under those Klieg lights because you forget he’s even acting at all. He’s better than Robert Downey Jr. ever was at being a rakishly cute smart aleck. It works because, despite all the appallingly self-centered people around him, Igby is a real person with real problems. His father went mad and is now drooling in a quiet mental hospital. Don’t think that’s just some background detail that tries to compensate for Igby’s obviously privileged life; Bill Pullman’s harrowing breakdown is completely heartwrenching. It provides the reason for why Igby is such a screw up, too.

See, he hates the hypocrisy of his life and he constantly thwarts everyone’s expectations of him. His father, despite his insanity, was the only genuinely caring person in Igby’s life thus far. And now he’s gone, real gone. But Igby’s not just rebelling against his family’s appearance in the society pages because he’s bored or vengeful; these people really are shallow creeps. That’s what makes his story so compelling.

I don’t know where it was, but I read once that a good film shows the transformation of characters. Watching Igby rage against the dying of the light and come to terms with life’s cruel irony is a bittersweet pleasure. It’s a pity that the movie has to end at all because I’d love to watch him grow up some more. I can console myself knowing that I’ll get to watch Kieran Culkin in what should surely be a long, successful and fabulous career.