Igby

A fresh and European-sounding story about a boy who was struggling to handle life a little bit. More than a decade after its creation, I still don't understand how it's possible that it didn't mean a rocket start to Hollywood heights for Kieran Culkin. This new Graduate can appeal to every age group and without unnecessary indulgence of Steers' friend Tarantino and without talking about vegetarians and their art of rolling joints, Igby could bite the deepest. Thanks in part to Claire Danes finally blossoming. (05.05.2006)

It's just terribly rewarding to watch antisocial bastards messing with others, which is why I enjoy Igby, even if it pisses me off in equal measure. It's actually quite counterproductive for a screenwriter to try to convince the viewer that poor Igby just can’t catch a break when every now and then they pull him out of the lion's den with some horrible deus ex machina. Our hero's adventures lose a lot of their impact as we realize we're watching another one of the countless sociopathic teenagers who don't know what they want. Which I still wouldn't have a problem with if the film wasn't trying to reflect and parody certain social conditions. It pisses me off that the film has no applicability, and it would still piss me off even if it did. (27.04.2012)