Igby Goes Down

A bitter teenager (Kieran Culkin) mopes around New York avoiding his snooty mother (Susan Sarandon), preppie older brother (Ryan Phillippe) and oily godfather (Jeff Goldblum), while flirting with a pretty young student Claire Danes. Writer and director Burr Steers may have read The Catcher in the Rye a couple of times too often, but there’s no denying that he’s just chock-full of talent. If he has more films in him, they’ll certainly be worth a look. This one suffers from the fact that its protagonist is an unpleasant little snot, and he wears out his welcome after a couple of scenes. (His brother says, “Even Gandhi would have kicked the shit out of you.”) Still, Steers is one to watch, and the dynamite cast (including Bill Pullman, Jared Harris, Amanda Peet and Bill Irwin) is a major asset.