I recall hearing someone coming out of the theater, saying that Igby was a very ironic film. Perhaps, like most modern members of our society, "irony" has been conflated with "sarchasm..." This was an extremely literal film, ripping content from angst-ridden chestnuts like "Catcher in the Rye." You hear it in Igby's dialogue, when he discusses going on his "Razor's Edge journey."

To be considered irony, the actual meaning must be the the opposite of the literal meaning. So, to call Igby ironic, we must first establlish its meaning, which is no easy task... Maybe to a particular audience this film has a clear meaning. I certainly cannot speak for all viewers, but to this particular viewer, Igby was a self-indulgent exploration of self-indulgent people. Jeff Goldblum was stereotypical, sleazy Wall Street type, and Ryan Phillippe was his stereotypical groupie, complete with stereotypical rich snob accent which was not 100% reliable. Amanda Peet was Edie Sedgwick, magically transported out of her time and thrown into 2002. So, lo and behold, Claire Danes was left to fill the predicated stereotypical bohemian vegetarian hipster who rolls joints in the park and sleeps with sequential brothers with no apparent care for "old-fashined" repercussions.

Had this movie been made in the 1960s, it may have been relevant. And, based on that era's standards, it may have even been seen as ironic. But in a post-Watergate America, our connotations and ideas are not what they were in the films and books Igby steals from -- er... "pays homage to." Ask yourself this... what does this film MEAN? What is its message?

Igby does not change. He has a moment of catharsis, but ultimately proves that he is the same self-indulgent Igby he always was...

I've read and heard reviews speak of this film as a skewering of the elite. But are they skewered? Is it only the elite? Danes and Peet are hardly the elite, but they are subject to narrative scorn. And Sarandon's character is revealed and redeemed in the end. So the literal message, at least in the eyes of this viewer, is that growing up is hard, and rich people face their own challenges. This may have been revolutionary and controversial in the context of a culture leaving the I Like Ike 50s, but in our day it is a retread of a retread of a familiar idea.

The Graduate had an extremely ironic ending that made it not only watchable but brilliant. Here we have the glorified Hollywood ending: a couple who found each other against the odds. And yet, you can read it on both of their faces... "Umm... And now what?" Igby completely lacks any such sense of irony. So, coming to us not as an ironic tale but as a literal tale, is there still something to hold onto? In my opinion, precious little. Sarandon and Pullman are strong, but under-utilized. The rest of the cast rings false. Jeff Goldblum, in fact, seems to be playing Cary Grant playing his character. Perhaps that is because they play characters who have not had real-life counterparts for decades. Or, in the spirit of generosity, perhaps these characters can, in fact, only be found in nooks and crannies of the East Coast. But if this latter is the case, I feel safe in saying that the material does not translate outside their tight circle. In either a literal or an ironic sense.