I didn't entirely dislike this movie, but watching it after so recently rereading The Catcher in the Rye was just making me twitch. I read an IMDb user's review earlier which said something like "Igby is the modern-day Holden Caufield." That's the praise the creators of this film were looking for, I'm sure, but it's also far too on the nose. I'll refrain from including spoilers, but I will say that right from the beginning I could parallel scenes in the movie, pretty much exactly, to scenes from Catcher. Even Igby's dialogue mirrors Holden's. He repeats phrases like "I think you're great, I really do" and "that tortures me". He drinks and chain smokes. I could go on.

Let's be clear here: Igby Goes Down doesn't simply pay homage to J.D. Salinger's classic novel. It doesn't stand on its own, which means it also doesn't honor its roots. It felt almost like they wanted to make a film adaptation of The Catcher in the Rye, couldn't get the rights, and said "forget it then; we'll come up with something ourselves".

The mimetic protagonist made the story as a whole hard for me to swallow, but to be fair, there are plenty of unique characters in Igby Goes Down. The premise is obviously contrived, but it still makes for an okay story. If you have never read Catcher, and therefore aren't forced to draw comparisons, you will probably enjoy this movie quite a bit more than I did.

I was very impressed by the movie and all the actors taking part in it. The story is very rich and allows the spectator to get emotionally involved in multiple ways. There is a good thing about a movie that finishes and leaves you with the feeling of wanting to know more about many of the characters in the movie. I particularly love all the unexpected moments, lines and situations in the movie without being exagerated or out of place. Excellent, for people who wants to see something different and still mainstream.

I didn't entirely dislike this movie, but watching it after so recently rereading The Catcher in the Rye was just making me twitch. I read an IMDb user's review earlier which said something like "Igby is the modern-day Holden Caufield." That's the praise the creators of this film were looking for, I'm sure, but it's also far too on the nose. I'll refrain from including spoilers, but I will say that right from the beginning I could parallel scenes in the movie, pretty much exactly, to scenes from Catcher. Even Igby's dialogue mirrors Holden's. He repeats phrases like "I think you're great, I really do" and "that tortures me". He drinks and chain smokes. I could go on.

Let's be clear here: Igby Goes Down doesn't simply pay homage to J.D. Salinger's classic novel. It doesn't stand on its own, which means it also doesn't honor its roots. It felt almost like they wanted to make a film adaptation of The Catcher in the Rye, couldn't get the rights, and said "forget it then; we'll come up with something ourselves".

The mimetic protagonist made the story as a whole hard for me to swallow, but to be fair, there are plenty of unique characters in Igby Goes Down. The premise is obviously contrived, but it still makes for an okay story. If you have never read Catcher, and therefore aren't forced to draw comparisons, you will probably enjoy this movie quite a bit more than I did.