Yes, Steers is a delightfully rebellious filmmaker, bravely taking on the Family Values Brigade and making a serious point in the process about true love and loyalty. Igby's journey is both funny and deeply telling, cutting through society's phoney "morality" to find something genuinely meaningful in life. Steers misses a trick or two, but on the whole this is a mind-opening exploration of growing up. It's also thoroughly entertaining, in a quirky, unexpected sort of way. The script sparkles with intelligence and humour on several planes. Culkin gives a star-making performance as the Holden Caulfield-like Igby, a cool customer who masks his deep longings with acerbic wit. Sarandon is absolutely inspired as the pampered control freak who's hiding all sorts of secrets. And the rest of the cast nail their characters perfectly as well, bringing a sort of warped humanity that lets us identify with characters we don't always like. Most importantly, in creating such a dysfunctional comic world, Steers hasn't forgotten to maintain an emotional honesty that draws us in and breaks our hearts, even as we laugh subversively through it all.