Igby Goes Down (2002) - Steers' debut is a New York gemstone

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+ Best Huge Flop of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year

 

Off-center and pensive sits co-star Kieran Culkin upside a blue wall on this poster for Burr Steers' Igby Goes Down

Igby Slocumb is 17 years old and from a wealthy family, but he wants to break free and find his own path in life. Which is easier said than done.

 

Igby Goes Down is written and directed by debuting Burr Steers (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)).

It is a morbid, funny and tragic dramedy. Kieran Culkin (No Sudden Move (2021)) is strong as Igby; Claire Danes (Evening (2007)) is terribly cute, - until she chooses Ryan Phillippe's (Antitrust (2001)) Ollie over his younger brother Igby, - and Susan Sarandan (The Client (1994)) and Jeff Goldblum (Hotel Artemis (2018)) are funny. 

The film is very New-Yorker intellectual and too much at times. Bill Pullman (The Equalizer 2 (2018)) doesn't really work as Igby's mentally ill father, and the good-spirit Mickey-Mousing of the opening music is grating. But although Igby Goes Down, like its title character, isn't flawless, it is an original and brisk movie.

 

Related posts:

 

Burr Steers: Charlie St. Cloud (2010) - Steers and Efron's second collaboration is lukewarm

17 Again (2009) or, Teentainment Deluxe

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 9 mil. $

Box office: 6.9 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.76 times its cost)

[Igby Goes Down premiered 23 May (Seattle International Film Festival) and runs 98 minutes. Phillippe was paid 500k $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from February - April 2001 in New York. The film opened #24 to a 306k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #15 and in 156 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.7 mil. $ (68.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd an 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 689k $ (10 %) and Germany with 499k $ (7.3 %). The film was nominated for 2 Golden Globes and an Independent Spirit award and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. The film is among the last to show the original World Trade Center twin towers before they were destroyed by Islamic terrorists 9/11 2001. Steers returned with 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return 17 Again (2009). Culkin returned in Lymelife (2008); Danes in The Hours (2002). Igby Goes Down is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Igby Goes Down?

Charlie St. Cloud (2010) - Steers and Efron's second collaboration is lukewarm

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Zac Efron looks hopefully upwards in the arms of Amanda Crew (The Age of Adaline (2015)) on the poster for Burr Steers' Charlie St. Cloud

Charlie's beloved little brother dies in a car accident, which prompts Charlie to postpone his otherwise promising future in lieu of an empty, cautious existence of denial.

Charlie St. Cloud is a polished, breezy, handsomely shot (by Enrique Chediak (RED 2 (2013))) and color-controlled teen romance melodrama. Zac Efron (Dirty Grandpa (2016)) plays well, and Ray Liotta (John Q (2002)) and Kim Basinger (Bless the Child (2000)) are fine in supporting roles, but the plot is too farfetched to score: SPOILER For 5 (!) years, Charlie throws ball with his dead brother in the forest (!), - but this still doesn't mean that he's gone even just a little cuckoo!?! SPOILER The boat talks in the romance, (Charlie falls for a girl who is a great sailor like himself), and the participation of several other otherworldly hunky young male stars (Dave Franco (The Lego Movie (2014)), Matt Ward (TRON: Legacy (2010)) and Augustus Prew (Kick-Ass 2 (2013))) also make the film too thick to really be taken seriously.
Charlie St. Cloud is written by Craig Pearce (The Great Gatsby (2013)) and Lewis Colick (Domestic Disturbance (2001)), based on the novel The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud (2004) by Ben Sherwood (The Man Who Ate the 747 (2000)), and directed by great American filmmaker Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down (2002)). It's a fairly entertaining film with some good values, but with a scenario that's too unlikely to really succeed.

Related review:

17 Again (2009) or, Teentainment Deluxe

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 44 mil. $
Box office: 48.1 mil. $
= Big flop
[Charlie St. Cloud was released July 30 and runs 99 minutes. 3 Hollywood studios were in a bidding war for Sherwood's book before it was even published. The rights were finally secured by Universal, reportedly for over 1 mil. $. Efron turned down the Footloose remake to star in this thought to be hot ticket. Filming took place from July - October 2009 in British Columbia and New York. The film opened #5 (behind Inception, Dinner for Schmucks, Salt and Despicable Me) to a 12.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 31.1 mil. $ (64.7 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany and Australia with 2.1 mil. $ (4.4 %) each. Even though the over-budgeted film received generally poor reviews, its relatively small performance is something of a reality check for Efron's star power, who soon thereafter chose to abandon his clean teen idol persona. Charlie St. Cloud is rotten at 27 % with a 4.6 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Charlie St. Cloud?

17 Again (2009) or, Teentainment Deluxe

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+ Best Fantasy Comedy of the Year

A preppy Zac Efron fronts this enticing French poster for  Burr Steers' 17 Again

A down on his luck, 37 year-old divorce-stricken man magically turns into his 17 year-old self and regains his sense of living and priorities.

17 Again is a wonderfully executed high-concept romcom/guilty pleasure for all lovers of Zac Efron (Me and Orson Welles (2008)), closeted or otherwise, written by Jason Filardi (Bringing Down the House (2003)) and directed by great Washingtonian filmmaker Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down (2002)). 
Efron is feisty, cute and funny in the film, and he gets backed up by lovely young actors Michelle Trachtenberg (Gossip Girl (2008-12)), Sterling Knight (Monster Heroes (2010)) and Hunter Parrish (Still Alice (2014)), as well as older, gifted comedians Leslie Mann (This Is 40 (2012)), Thomas Lennon (Knight of Cups (2015)), Matthew Perry (Mr. Sunshine (2011), TV-series) and Melora Hardin (Transparent (2014-15)), the wonderful comedienne oft remembered as Jan from The Office (2005-13).
17 Again is perfect, breezy marketing of the US of A for the world, a shining, delicious joy.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 136.2 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.4 times the cost)
[17 Again premiered 11 March (Sydney, Australia) and runs 105 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, ending in January 2008. The film opened #1 with a 23.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#4) and grossed 64.1 mil. $ (47 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 18.3 mil. $ (13.4 %) and Australia  with 10 mil. $ (7.3 %). Roger Ebert agreed with Film Excess and awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars. Steers returned with Charlie St. Cloud (2010), also Efron's subsequent feature. 17 Again is rotten at 56 % with a 5.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 17 Again?