Remarkable acting, pretentious movie

"Igby Goes Down" opened to predominantly favorable reviews this past fall. Unfortunately, few of us read anymore, and as such, the film left town within a week or two of its Bloomington debut. "Igby," while pretentious, is a good little flick worth checking out now that it's available on DVD.\nKieran Culkin more than ably headlines the film as its titular character, a rebellious, smart-assed, drug-pushing, prep school flunkey with silver spoon firmly placed in cheek. Life's dealt poor Igby a pretty crappy hand. His mother, Mimi (Susan Sarandon), is a pill-popping shrew. His father, Jason (Bill Pullman), is an institutionalized, broken shell of a man. And his older brother, Oliver (Ryan Phillippe), is a yuppie Republican scumbag, cut from the mold of their oily and infinitely successful godfather, D.H. Baines (Jeff Goldblum). Having just gone AWOL from military school, Igby holes up in the loft of D.H.'s scag-hag mistress, Rachel (Amanda Peet), and her performance artist buddy, Russel (Jared Harris). He spends his days selling dime bags and boning Sookie (Claire Danes), a part-time student and full-time nympho.\nThe decent flick receives decent DVD treatment. The commentary featuring Culkin and writer/director Burr Steers is mildly entertaining. They spend much of the track joking with one another, but things occasionally get bogged down in their overly precious banter. A featurette entitled, "In Search of Igby," seems lazily produced as it's chock full of junket leftovers. The deleted scenes accentuate the darkly comedic streak that runs rampant throughout the film, and as such, are pretty cool. The sound mix is impeccable, especially when showcasing the flick's spectacular soundtrack (featuring the Dandy Warhols, Badly Drawn Boy, Coldplay, Travis and The Beta Band).\n"Igby" succeeds most in its acting. Culkin further reveals himself as a real talent (this following "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") embracing both the humor and hurt of his difficult role. Sarandon is downright scary, Goldblum is far sleazier and more entertaining here than in his prototypical science dork shtick, Phillippe does admirable work in a rather thankless role and Pullman, after a long off-screen hiatus, is heartbreaking. The film's stumbling blocks come from somewhat stunted pacing and an unnaturally sophisticated script. Steers is obviously trying to emulate Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye," but we're all better off just cracking the book.