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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 source; UK critics are listed first)
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Writer and producer Westfeldt revisits the terrain of love and misunderstanding with the same breezy, romantic tone of Kissing Jessica Stein.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/01/07
Jessica Pallington
Jessica Pallington
About.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/24/07
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A mixed bag with a lot of cutesy awfulness to wade through, but the acerbic ending is enough of a punchline to suggest that Westfeldt understands what a joke this kind of film can be.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
10/05/07
Tasha Robinson
Tasha Robinson
AV Club

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

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

"Ira & Abby" doesn't throw out the romantic comedy rule book, but it occasionally shuffles the pages a little for comic effect.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
12/07/07
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

The movie benefits from an exceptionally strong line-up of supporting characters beautifully played by a top-notch cast.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/18/07
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ira & Abby has plenty of sharp details, mostly verbal, and it gives old pros and newer faces a chance to show off their poker-faced comic wiles.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/18/07
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Ira and Abby is far from being an unlikable movie. It has a charming lunacy about it, which allows for much enjoyment, or at least comfortable, familiar, routine easiness (like a marriage).

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
09/17/07
Christopher Campbell
Christopher Campbell
Cinematical

We're in Woody Allen/Christopher Guest territory here with a bright, fast-paced sitcom without the required happy ending.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
07/10/07
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The result is light but surprisingly fresh, and even a bit insightful.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/10/07
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com

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
 
 
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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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