Igby looks up The low-budget indie film draws appreciative response

Arthur J Pais

Released with little fanfare and buzz, as most low-budget and independently made films are, Igby Goes Down is drawing such an appreciative audience that its distributor United Artists has expanded it from 10 to 100 screens.

With more expansions on their way Igby could only be looking up. Director Burt Steers, who makes his debut with this tidy and compellingly interesting film, could soon be on Hollywood's A list. The movie, which grossed an impressive $450,000 in its first week, was No 24 on the box-office chart.

This weekend it could be among the top 15.

It revolves around Jason 'Igby' Slocumb Jr, a rich young man who realises how much the adult world sucks and how many people around him are phonies. He also has to fight many emotional battles and survive his malfunctioning family.

The film has received favourable reviews from major publications, including The New York Times, Hollywood Reporter and Chicago Sun-Times.

The film, promoted with the smart tagline --- Insanity Is Relative --- could become one of the top sleeper hits of the season. But it is not for those who want to have an easy two hours in a movie theatre. It is funny and sad, solidly acted but it won't be sufficiently comical for those who love the sitcoms.

However, those who love quirky cinema with a darker tone, this is a fine, thought-provoking entertainment. It is recommended for mature audiences who appreciate deep psychological dramas that are compelling without being overtly melodramatic.

This is the film that can truly turn Kieran Culkin (the 17-year-old Igby) into a star. The ever-so-good Susan Sarandon gives a splendid performance as his pill-popping and distasteful mother, with Bill Pullman successfully vying with her to create a memorable role as her husband who has to fight too many of his own demons.

Watch out for Culkin's brother Rory playing 10-year-old Igby. Rory is also in Signs, in a more significant role.

Some viewers may get upset at Culkin's character who, because of his alienation from his family and friends, makes sure he fails in his studies, behaviour and relationships with the family. Even his shrink cannot handle him.

But many viewers will review the character more sympathetically wanting to know why any adolescent should feel so alienated and unhappy.

'A corrosive sarcastic comedy,' declared The New York Times while the Entertainment Weekly which gave it a rare A rating called it one of the best films in 'the coming-of-age landscape.'

The trade publications such as Variety and Hollywood Reporter suggested with careful handling and good publicity, the film could become a hit with sophisticated audiences.

'While every character is caught in a scathing light, no one comes off as two-dimensional. All are vibrant personalities, their discontent and dysfunction seen as a consequence of class, personal idiosyncrasies and too much time on their hands,' wrote Hollywood Reporter. 'Steers puts everybody in his place but never puts anyone down. The tone is always comic, even when circumstances are tragic.'

Roger Ebert, the widely syndicated reviewer for Chicago Sun-Times called the film, 'an astonishing filmmaking debut, balancing so many different notes and story elements,' while giving it three and half (out of four) stars.

"What Steers has not lost sight of, in all the emotional chaos, is heart. The film opens and closes on different kinds of pain."