Igby Goes Down
User Score
7.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 57
  3. Negative: 7 out of 57

Review this movie

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Baycyd
    Mar 2, 2003
    3
    Culkin seems a young robert downey. other than that, this movie is icky. igby (& everyone else in this self-indulgent smarm) is icky.
  2. AshL.
    Feb 22, 2005
    0
    Blind leading the blind. huge waste of money and time.
  3. TimP.
    Nov 15, 2002
    3
    Kind of a shallow hipster movie. Too dependent on background pop music, much like the Royal Tenenbaums. I didn't believe the relationships between any of the characters, and the dialogue rang hollow. I'd be interested in reading this guy's plays to see if they sound the same. Not sure why everyone is doing that stupid cross-marketing "if you liked Catcher in the Rye, you�39;ll like..." thing.… Expand
  4. NolanB.
    Oct 6, 2002
    1
    Do not be fooled, this "film" is pure garbage. The script was flat, the actors were disappointing, and the editing was abismal. If you want to see a "coming of age" movie, see Almost Famous. If you want to see Susan Sarandon in a movie about death, see Moonlight Mile. This movie is not worth the two minutes it takes out of your life to watch the trailer. You have been warned.
  5. MichaelH.
    Oct 7, 2002
    2
    [***Potential first scene Spoiler***] Igby is an insufferable character, so insufferable in fact, that by the end of the movie, I was wishing he'd taken the poison instead of his mother. The ultra-hip think there is some great revelation in this movie (see review by Slate), but there isn't; it's just good looking crap.
  6. CharlesD.
    Sep 29, 2002
    4
    This movie was one tired, long, overwrought cliche. Igby brought nothing new to the "coming of age" or "black comedy" genres. Sarandon's performance was good, but not worth the price of admission. And what was with that irritating "pop-punk" music used during every montage sequence. Who listens to that? It was really distracting.
  7. CaptainCraig
    Feb 18, 2005
    1
    Typical of untalented productions and studio packaged product. How do they get money to make this kindof stuff? Psyco kids in a Psyco world. How needs to see it on the screen?
  8. MikeS
    Oct 18, 2002
    3
    Gee guys, I went to see the film due to the 73 rating. Usually I agree with the rating, but I must have missed something. Good acting, yes but give me a good story line something more than all about a looser. You see these guys everywhere, maybe I just want some escaping from the real world once in a while.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
72 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 30
  3. Negative: 3 out of 30
  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    Hammers home its tragicomic points too heavily for either its humorous or dramatic aspects to gather much emotional steam.
    Read full review
  2. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    Smart and novelistic and spiked with more than a bit of The Catcher in the Rye, Steers' movie is a prickly coming-of-age tale in which everybody -- but especially Culkin -- shines.
    Read full review
  3. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    88
    This is a marvelous film, a look at the strange, exasperatingly labyrinthine process of adolescence and the diverse ways people find to deal with it.
See all critic reviews »