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Igby goes down

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Insanity is relative.

Igby Slocumb (Kieran Culkin), a rebellious and sarcastic 17-year-old boy, is at war with the stifling world of old money privilege into which he was born. With a schizophrenic father (Bill Pullman), a self-absorbed, distant mother (Susan Sarandon), and a shark-like young Republican big brother (Ryan Phillippe), Igby figures there must be a better life out there - and sets about finding it.

Happily flunking out of yet another prep school, Igby is sent off to a military academy in the dreaded Mid-western USA. With the aid of his mother's pilfered credit card, he goes on the lam. His darkly comedic voyage eventually lands him in New York, where he hides out at his godfather's (Jeff Goldblum) weekend pied-à-terre. There he encounters a deviant cast of characters, including his godfather's trophy choreographer girlfriend (Amanda Peet) and the terminally-bored Sookie Sapperstein (Claire Danes). In his quest to free himself from the oppressive dysfunction of his family, Igby's struggles veer from the comic to the tragic in an ultimately noble attempt to keep himself from "going down".

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film drama growing up teen New York old money cancer schizophrenia family godfather

Persons of interest

Kieran Culkin .... Igby
Claire Danes .... Sookie
Jeff Goldblum .... DH
Jared Harris .... Russel
Amanda Peet .... Rachel
Ryan Phillippe .... Oliver
Bill Pullman .... Jason
Susan Sarandon .... Mimi
Rory Culkin .... young Igby
Peter Anthony Tambakis .... Young Oliver
Bill Irwin .... Lieutenant Smith
Kathleen Gati .... Ida
Celia Weston .... Bunny
Elizabeth Jagger .... Lisa Fiedler
Burr Steers .... Screenwriter
Burr Steers .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Igby goes down official movie sites:

Igby goes down movie trailers:

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Studios and distributors:

Palace Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Tadpole with younger chicks.

And despite the title, there is neither representation nor intimation of either cunnilingus or fellatio by the eponymous protagonist, although he does lose his cherry somewhere in a loft apartment in New York.

It's also a little bit Cruel intentions, with too many rich people with too much time on their hands. Igby's "rebellion" is that of a spoilt little rich kid with no idea of what life expects from him let alone what he should expect from life. Once the lesson gets slapped into his head (that's a metaphor, not an avocation of corporal punishment, although if I did advocate corporal punishment, it would be for Igby) he turns around and becomes the good little rich boy. Very Henry IV.

Igby goes down is a small melodrama for the big screen. It's your choice whether to see it there or not.