Intermission: 'Igby' takes its place among year's best movies

Jim Wunderle is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.

Since its publication in 1951, J.D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye" has been a touchstone for disaffected teens who are rapidly becoming young adults and are trying to cope with all that that formidable task entails.

The novel has inspired countless young people; many good, some not so good (John David Hinckley was a rabid fan), and stands as one of the most important literary works of the 20th century.

The fact that Hollywood has never taken on a screen version of the novel is a testament to its greatness. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is entirely unassailable. Remember the fuss created when Michael Keaton was chosen to be Batman? That's nothing compared to the hubbub that would follow if the part of Holden is cast.

So, for the most part, Hollywood has skirted the issue.

There have been many films that have approached the subject of "The Catcher in the Rye," most notably Mike Nichols's classic "The Graduate." Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock was a Holden Caulfield for the 1960s.

With Igby Slocumb, we have an heir apparent for the new millennium.

First-time director Burr Steers's "Igby Goes Down," is an attempt at the throne and is a noteworthy effort. It's a treasure of a film that is at times hilarious and at others entirely painful. Young adult angst hasn't been portrayed this succinctly since, well, "The Catcher in the Rye" or "The Graduate."

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."

This opening paragraph from Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye'" could serve as the voice over for the opening scene of "Igby Goes Down," one that features an act of (fantasy?) matricide and serves as a poetic device to introduce us to the main characters in the story.

Mom (Susan Sarandon) is called "Mimi," because Igby thinks "Heinous One" is too cumbersome. Oliver, Igby's older brother, and Igby himself (who was named after a mispronunciation of a childhood bear) are both in attendance. Only after the film is finished does the importance of this scene come to the fore.

Igby, played by Kieran Culkin, is the youngest son of a dysfunctional family, and he's adrift in the world of private prep schools. He just can't seem to advance. His goal (just to get his family off his back) is to get his GED and then kiss it all off.

Igby has never had a meaningful relationship with a girl (or possibly with anyone) until he meets Sookie, a young woman who works for a catering service. She likes him. She says, "You make me laugh." We laugh as well, but know in our hearts things are going to get serious and probably not work out. Things have never worked out for Igby, so why should they now?

Sookie eventually betrays him. She doesn't really see it that way, but since Igby is our hero, the audience realizes how devastating her actions are.

As Igby is adrift, trying to run away from the endless series of schools Mimi wants him to attend, he has dealings with his "godfather," D.H. (Jeff Goldblum), and one of D.H.'s tenants in his lucrative rental property business. Amanda Peet serves this role well as a damaged, but still viable, woman of the world.

This is an uncomfortable subplot and one that reaches a rather unsettling conclusion.

The ticker in this film continues to beat faster and faster, and the humor introduced at first makes way for feelings of enormously sad proportions.

Any good comedian will tell you that the best comedy is born of tragedy and such is the case with the screenplay, which was written by director Steers. I came in laughing and left nearly in tears.

Much like "The Royal Tenenbaums," "Igby Goes Down" strives to put the "fun" in "dysfunctional," and manages to do so in a fine fashion.

It's caustic, sarcastic, sexy and salacious.

So be forewarned: "Igby Goes Down" is like "real life," something a lot of people have a hard time dealing with. But it's a great film and is one of this year's top 10.