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| Tookey's Review |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
2002 |
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| Genre: |
DRAMA
BLACK COMEDY
RITES-OF-PASSAGE
COMEDY
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| Origin: |
US |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
0 |
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16 year-old Igby Slocumb (Kieran Culkin) has sex appeal and a wealthy godfather (Jeff Golblum) who’s willing to fund him when he bunks off school and roams New York City. Here, he has many adventures.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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Since these involve sex with Claire Daines and Amanda Peet, this might count as adolescent fantasy. But another plot involves Igby in the assisted suicide of his cancer-stricken mother (Susan Sarandon). This is the writing and directing debut from actor Burr Steers, who’s well-connected as the nephew of Gore Vidal and Jacqueline Onassis. This has the same laid-back deadpan wannabe-quirky quality of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, and many of the same weaknesses.
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There’s no plot to speak of; the debt to The Graduate, Catcher in the Rye, Woody Allen and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is obvious; and there’s an awkward shift of gear when Steers suddenly wants us to care about people whom previously he has been holding up for our scorn.
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Claire Daines is always a pleasure to watch, but Culkin struggles, especially in scenes where he is supposed to have sex appeal or be foul-mouthed. I just didn’t like the sarcastic little bratty know-it-all, nor see much pathos in him. There’s a thin line between clever and clever-clever, and Steers tramples all over it.
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