Writer and producer Westfeldt revisits the terrain of love and misunderstanding with the same breezy, romantic tone of Kissing Jessica Stein.
Ira & Abby (2007)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Ira & Abby
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.
A deeply funny follow-up to Kissing Jessica Stein from that film’s co-writer and co-star Westfeldt.
"Ira & Abby" doesn't throw out the romantic comedy rule book, but it occasionally shuffles the pages a little for comic effect.
The movie benefits from an exceptionally strong line-up of supporting characters beautifully played by a top-notch cast.
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.
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).
We're in Woody Allen/Christopher Guest territory here with a bright, fast-paced sitcom without the required happy ending.
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
Ira & Abby is a charming film, but it's nearly great when it settles down and causally explores life's often strange complications.
For every odd laugh it earns, also induces twice as many groans for obviousness and coincidence-fraught comic straining.
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.
If Dharma and Greg went to therapy--a lot--you might end up with something like Robert Cary's appealing but uneven romantic comedy.
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.
An odd love poem for cynics who have thrown sentimentality into the garbage.
Ira & Abby wants to explore the state of modern marriage, but finds the allure of romantic-comedy fantasies impossible to resist.
The result is light but surprisingly fresh, and even a bit insightful.
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 ![]()
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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. ![]()
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