Photo by: Myles Aronowitz

“Igby Goes Down” is the story of wry, sarcastic, 17-year-old Igby Slocumb (played by Kieran Culkin), who has flunked out of almost every prep school on the East Coast.

Plagued by his high society, pill-popping, anxious mother (Susan Sarandon), his young Republican brother (Ryan Philippe), and schizophrenic father (Bill Pullman), Igby tries to escape his family’s world of old money privilege. He enters a pseudo-bohemian existence in a New York City loft occupied by his rich godfather’s mistress Rachel (Amanda Peet).

The movie, directed by first-time filmmaker Burr Steers, has a strong cast of supporting characters, including Jeff Goldblum, who plays Igby’s godfather to the hilt, and Claire Danes as the somber Sookie Sapperstein, a Jewish, Bennington College student taking the semester off.

Culkin smoothly slips into his role as the Holden Caulfield of the current generation, running around New York City in a used suit and an old wool scarf.

Igby, a J.D. Salinger-eque creation, comes of age in a multi-faceted world, and seeks to achieve noble ambitions. He spouts amusing comments with a deadpan candor. Igby calls his emotion less brother, a Columbia freshman majoring in economics, a “fascist” and he tells Rachel he admires her for being D.H.’s mistress. Yet, underneath it all, he is still a little kid at heart, a kid who wants the rest of society to hear him out. Remeber The Catcher in the Rye?

The dry comic script complements the dark, depressing plot by creating a final work that is funny, despite the craziness of Igby’s life. Bizarre scenes, such as Igby getting roughed up by almost everyone, including his avuncular, stately godfather D.H. and even by classy, artsy Rachel, add to the quirky quality of the movie.

In flashbacks to his childhood, Igby recalls his father falling deeply into mental illness, and the cold distance of his mother. Igby seeks attachments in his present-day life, yet finds no one willing to share his emotional state of being.

This indie-style film does not break new ground; this territory has already been covered many times in coming-of-age movies and books. But, it tells the story of a rebellious kid in a different way.

“Igby” is an amusing look at a young man’s life as he teeters on the edge of destruction, yet manages to hang on to one last thread of hope.