Igby Goes Down

Steers's directorial debut is a smart, dark comedy. Modern-day Holden Caufield Igby (Culkin) rebels against his privileged upbringing, dropping out of countless prep and, finally, military schools. Adrift, Igby heads to the boho pad of his rich godfather (Goldblum) and his beautiful, drug-addled girlfriend (Peet) and is initiated into their degenerate "arty" scene. While in a questionable relationship with Peet, Igby falls for soulful college dropout Sookie Sapperstein (Danes) who's also the target of his slick older brother Oliver's (Phillippe) affection. The matriarch of Igby's dysfunctional family is Sarandon, in a humorously unlikable role. Thoughtful, satiric view of the emptiness of the American Dream.