2003-04-29 - 3:25 a.m.

Take the characters from Malcolm in the Middle, don�t develop them very much, add a teaspoon of Reversal of Fortune, a dash of Great Expectations (the one with Ethan Hawke), and a pinch of a Clearisil commercial, present with flourish, and you got Igby Goes Down.

Huh?

I dunno--maybe five years ago, I woulda loved the film. Tonight, I thought Igby got off pretty frickin� easy.

I mean, here�s this sarcastic jackass who refuses to get his shit together, but in a yeah, you�re just kinda being a jackass kinda way, and he gets a few nasty boo-boos as a result, but just keeps winning nonetheless. Which would be fine, I guess, if the film weren�t so flashy-washy.

Thing is, I liked the film. The acting was excellent (even from Jeff Goldblum, who is an elite member of the pantheon of actors who play themselves in every role--Walken, Goldblum, Chris Elliott, Pacino, and anyone ever on Star Trek).

The whole film, I kept waiting for someone to bitch slap Igby, �cause he needed comeuppance to make his character. He did get beated up by Goldblum, but it really wasn�t enough for me. Actually, I would have preferred to see him getting struck sharply about the face and neck by any other character, seeing as how every time I saw Jeff Goldblum, I thought hey, there�s Jeff Goldblum, as if he were in the same mall as me.

But he never got it. Igby, that is. He just got a little yellow and red scarf and a pea coat. And a loft. And a good scene banging his head on his girlfriend�s door. And he got to deal drugs. And then he helped kill his mother, and he got away with that too.

Maybe I�m missing the point, and the film did hold my interest, but, call me crazy, I smell hackney when I watch a film that the main character of would probably look down on me for liking.