A young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.A young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.A young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.
- Awards
- 7 wins & 17 nominations
Peter Anthony Tambakis
- 13-Year-Old Oliver
- (as Peter Tambakis)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaKieran Culkin was cast only two weeks before filming began.
- GoofsWhen Igby checks in to the O'Hare Hilton, the desk manager takes his credit card but never returns it, yet in the next shot it's back in front of Igby.
- Alternate versionsThere are two versions of the movie. The runtimes for those are: "1h 38m (98 min)" which is the commonly encountered theatrical release, and "1h 39m (99 min) (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema) (Argentina)".
- ConnectionsEdited into Igby Goes Down: Deleted Scenes (2003)
- SoundtracksIbuki Reconstruction
(1999)
Written by Ryutaro Kaneko (as R. Kaneko), Tetsuro Naito (as T. Naito) and Motofumi Yamaguchi (as M. Yamaguchi)
Performed by Kodo
Beats and scratches by DJ Krush
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
Featured review
A film that will stay with you
My first thought when I finished watching this film was, `I can't believe I really enjoyed a film that starred a Culkin.' My subsequent conclusions about the film were not as easily reached.
When I decided to watch this film, I was expecting The Royal Tennenbaums: Part 2. Rich family, the story takes place in a big city, eccentric characters. While both films share these elements, they are very different in that I considered The Royal Tennenbaums to be mostly a comedy; while Igby's few comedic moments are so dark one almost feels badly for chuckling. What this film is really about is family, but not just in the traditional sense. (What is more traditional than a disapproving mother who is more concerned about herself than anyone else in the family, a clinically schizophrenic father, and two brothers: the elder a narcissist (if not practical) and the younger, a rebellious 16 year old who is forced to change schools more often than most of us change our Glade Plug-Ins.) It is about family in any sense: Friends, strangers, anyone Igby encounters and tries to gain acceptance from.
Culkin's Igby, who looks like a waifish Harry Potter without the `imp factor', is an extremely conflicted character. We have seen rebellious types portrayed ad nauseum in films for decades, but it is a rare occasion when this person is both sympathetic and extremely intelligent. The character draws you in enough that you actually want to know why he acts the way he does, and you truly want him to find happiness. Unfortunately, it appears that when a door opens, it slams just as quickly. Culkin is truly fantastic in this role. He shoulders a character that is both intelligent enough to defend himself, yet vulnerable enough to give the impression of fragility. The rest of the cast is also decent, particularly Jeff Goldblum as D.H., a larger than life character who is conflicted in his own right. The story was just complicated enough to keep me very interested, while endearing and thought-provoking enough for me to reflect on it long after it was over.
I'm not entirely sure who I would recommend this film to, but if you are looking for a thought-provoking drama with some great acting, dialogue and story line I would definitely check this movie out. It has received some rave reviews and I believe they are well-deserved.
When I decided to watch this film, I was expecting The Royal Tennenbaums: Part 2. Rich family, the story takes place in a big city, eccentric characters. While both films share these elements, they are very different in that I considered The Royal Tennenbaums to be mostly a comedy; while Igby's few comedic moments are so dark one almost feels badly for chuckling. What this film is really about is family, but not just in the traditional sense. (What is more traditional than a disapproving mother who is more concerned about herself than anyone else in the family, a clinically schizophrenic father, and two brothers: the elder a narcissist (if not practical) and the younger, a rebellious 16 year old who is forced to change schools more often than most of us change our Glade Plug-Ins.) It is about family in any sense: Friends, strangers, anyone Igby encounters and tries to gain acceptance from.
Culkin's Igby, who looks like a waifish Harry Potter without the `imp factor', is an extremely conflicted character. We have seen rebellious types portrayed ad nauseum in films for decades, but it is a rare occasion when this person is both sympathetic and extremely intelligent. The character draws you in enough that you actually want to know why he acts the way he does, and you truly want him to find happiness. Unfortunately, it appears that when a door opens, it slams just as quickly. Culkin is truly fantastic in this role. He shoulders a character that is both intelligent enough to defend himself, yet vulnerable enough to give the impression of fragility. The rest of the cast is also decent, particularly Jeff Goldblum as D.H., a larger than life character who is conflicted in his own right. The story was just complicated enough to keep me very interested, while endearing and thought-provoking enough for me to reflect on it long after it was over.
I'm not entirely sure who I would recommend this film to, but if you are looking for a thought-provoking drama with some great acting, dialogue and story line I would definitely check this movie out. It has received some rave reviews and I believe they are well-deserved.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $9,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,777,465
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $306,705
- Sep 15, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $6,919,198
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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