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Movies / On DVD / Ira & Abby
Ira & Abby

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Ira & Abby (2007)

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Reviews Counted:41

Fresh:28

Rotten:13

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: Ira & Abby overcomes the somewhat clichéd plot with witty dialogue and earnest performances.

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Ira Black, 33, is brilliant, neurotic, Jewish and has so many issues he can't fit them into 12 years of analysis. He can't finish his dissertation, he can't commit to his longtime girlfriend, and... Ira Black, 33, is brilliant, neurotic, Jewish and has so many issues he can't fit them into 12 years of analysis. He can't finish his dissertation, he can't commit to his longtime girlfriend, and he's incapable of making a decision, even if it's just what to order at the diner. Abby Willoughby, 30, is a free spirit who's better at solving her friends' problems at the gym than selling memberships. When the two meet, the impossible happens: they fall in love, meet each other's parents and decide to get married, all in a few breathless hours. And life is good, until Ira finds out that Abby is a divorcee... two times over. Despite even more therapy, Ira can't help but feel that their marriage was built on a lie. They divorce quietly, while cracks grow wider in their parents' marriages. Ira's gorgeous analyst mother Arlene starts a secret liaison with Abby's charming voiceover artist father Michael, while Abby's mother Lynne wonders why she's no longer attractive to her husband and Ira's father Sy pretends not to notice. Of course, Ira soon realizes he's miserable without Abby. He asks her forgiveness and they marry again, this time making more realistic vows. But Ira's jealousy issues and Abby's free-floating tendencies lead him to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend. When Abby finds out about their parents' infidelities, the three couples converge for a hilarious group therapy scene with the eight therapists we have met in the film. Ira and Abby ultimately realize that they were meant to be together. But divorced. Because marriage just isn't for them... Ira & Abby was written by Jennifer Westfeldt, who co-wrote, co-produced and played the title role in the indie hit Kissing Jessica Stein. Westfeldt, a 2004 Tony nominee for her turn in the Broadway revival of Wonderful Town, stars as Abby, while the charming up and comer, Chris Messina (most recently seen as "Ted" on the final season of HBO's Six Feet Under) stars as Ira. Fred Willard, known for such films as Anchorman, A Mighty Wind, and Best in Show, and for his Emmy-nominated turn on Everybody Loves Raymond, co-stars as Michael, and Golden Globe winner and multiple Emmy nominee Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) plays Abby's mother Lynne. The well-known comedian/actor Robert Klein (Two Weeks' Notice, How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days), co-stars as Ira's father, Sy, and Judith Light, best known as the star of the long-running sitcom Who's The Boss? will play the role of Arlene. -- © Official Site [More]

Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Chris Messina, Frances Conroy, Judith Light

Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Chris Messina, Frances Conroy, Judith Light, Robert Klein, Fred Willard, Jason Alexander, Chris Parnell, Darrell Hammond

Director: Robert Carey

Director: Robert Carey
Screenwriter: Jennifer Westfeldt
Producer: Brad Zions
Composer: Marcelo Zavros
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

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Reviews for Ira & Abby

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/24/07
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It was all so fresh and funny -- when Woody Allen did it.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
10/05/07
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

For every odd laugh it earns, also induces twice as many groans for obviousness and coincidence-fraught comic straining.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment 1 Comment
09/14/07
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

Offers some smiles and rueful insights about the vicissitudes of love, but its almost slavish imitation of the Woody Allen formula ultimately makes it seem stale.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
10/07/07
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

A romantic comedy about a kooky couple that sinks in a whirlpool of therapeutic clichés.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment 1 Comment
09/15/07
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Ira & Abby wants to explore the state of modern marriage, but finds the allure of romantic-comedy fantasies impossible to resist.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
09/14/07
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Muddle-headed.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
09/22/07
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

Annie Hall called, and it wants its plot back.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/11/07
Julia Wallace
Julia Wallace
Village Voice

Neither Westfeldt's sunny charm nor the best efforts of a stellar supporting cast can haul her formulaic screenplay out of its tired shtick.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment 1 Comment
09/14/07
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Though Westfeldt has a winning way with a punch line and a perky screen presence that is very much in the Diane Keaton/Jenna Elfman mode, the picture ultimately feels like yesterday's brisket.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
07/14/07
Michael Rechtshaffen
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Amidst its inquiry into the feasibility of monogamy, marriage, and true love, Ira & Abby raises a more pressing issue: Is this all there is to mainstream indie filmmaking?

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
09/09/07
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

It spends so much time reminding of how quaint and kooky it is throughout that you may find yourself pulling out your wallet or purse and offering it some of your hard-earned money if it will agree to just simmer down and go away

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/18/07
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

The steady addition of more and more characters served to fragment what could have been a charming romantic comedy.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
02/03/08
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Ira & Abby is like its characters: nice with a lot of problems.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/12/07
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

In the season that has seen such loathsome films as Good Luck Chuck and The Heartbreak Kid, Ira & Abby is remarkable proof that a compelling and funny love story can appear on celluloid.

Full Review Source: HollywoodChicago.com | comment Comment
10/26/07
Adam Fendelman
Adam Fendelman
HollywoodChicago.com

An odd love poem for cynics who have thrown sentimentality into the garbage.

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
02/22/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

If Dharma and Greg went to therapy--a lot--you might end up with something like Robert Cary's appealing but uneven romantic comedy.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
10/05/07
Betsy Bozdech
Betsy Bozdech
Hollywood.com

Westfeldt's screenplay and Cary's direction combine to make it the best Manhattan love story since When Harry Met Sally.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
10/04/07
Bill White
Bill White
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Ira & Abby is a charming film, but it's nearly great when it settles down and causally explores life's often strange complications.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/11/07
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
eFilmCritic.com

A deeply funny follow-up to Kissing Jessica Stein from that film’s co-writer and co-star Westfeldt.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment 1 Comment
09/14/07
Chad Greene
Chad Greene
Boxoffice Magazine
 
 
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Latest News for Ira & Abby

September 13, 2007: Critical Consensus: Brave One Isn't Tops, Mr. Woodcock is Flaccid, Hunting Party is Busted
This week at the movies, we've got vigilantes (The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster), gym teachers (Mr. Woodcock starring Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon), war... More...

August 22, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

July 27, 2007: Ira and Abby may be a divorce comedy, but the perfect marriage of two comically inspired minds, director Robert Cary (Anything But Love) and writer/star Jennifer Wesfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein) is irresistible. Opens in new window
More...

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