Featured Audience Ratings

• Alice S

  
  Another win for Jennifer Westfeldt. In disagreement with friend and Flixster reviewer, Jim Hunter, I think the group therapy session is the most amazing scene in the movie. So many overlapping arguments and grievances aired. I especially love Ira's line that criticizes… More
  Another win for Jennifer Westfeldt. In disagreement with friend and Flixster reviewer, Jim Hunter, I think the group therapy session is the most amazing scene in the movie. So many overlapping arguments and grievances aired. I especially love Ira's line that criticizes Abby's penchant for people-pleasing, "It's hard being married to someone who's married to everyone."

• Jim H

  
  A couple quickly falls in love and marries, and then they have to deal with the ramifications. This film is remarkably uneven. It is often jaunty and farcical, but there are moments of true pathos that demand we take the action more seriously than we had been prepared for. There is… More
  A couple quickly falls in love and marries, and then they have to deal with the ramifications. This film is remarkably uneven. It is often jaunty and farcical, but there are moments of true pathos that demand we take the action more seriously than we had been prepared for. There is also great truth in the moments when, for example, Seymour says, "It's impossible to ever truly know anybody." But immediately after we get a ridiculous scene involving everybody's therapists and people carrying on ad infinitum. The primary eponymous story offers some fairly charming moments, but the supporting stories often have little to do with the main action and only distract from the people we want to care about. The performances by Chris Messina and Jennifer Westfeldt (especially Westfeldt) often make their outlandish characters believable, and by the end of the film, I wished I knew them better and got to spend more time in their presence. Overall, there's a lot to like about Ira and Abby, but not much to like about <i>Ira and Abby</i> because the film as whole suffers from too much business and not enough substance.

• Jennifer X

  
  I'm at least glad to know that somebody is filling in for the psychoneurotic Jewish dilettante while Woody is off parading himself in Europe doing god-knows-what. This movie largely succeeds due to Jennifer Westfeldt, who plays Abby with such au naturale the role seems made for… More
  I'm at least glad to know that somebody is filling in for the psychoneurotic Jewish dilettante while Woody is off parading himself in Europe doing god-knows-what. This movie largely succeeds due to Jennifer Westfeldt, who plays Abby with such au naturale the role seems made for her. The supporting Jewish cast feels like a return home to my favorite genre in the world, so much that I'm willing to forgive Chris Messina for being such a complete jerk.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Ira & Abby," Ira(Chris Messina) has spent the last six years of his life working on his doctoral dissertation on psychology.(Both of his parents(Robert Klein & Judith Light) are psychoanalysts.) After twelve years of therapy, his analyst can… More
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Ira & Abby," Ira(Chris Messina) has spent the last six years of his life working on his doctoral dissertation on psychology.(Both of his parents(Robert Klein & Judith Light) are psychoanalysts.) After twelve years of therapy, his analyst can do nothing more for him and is dumping him. Unable to make up his mind about lunch, Ira at least knows that he wants to be in better physical shape, so he wanders across to a gym and fills out a member application. 45 minutes later, he wants to leave but that is when Abby(Jennifer Westfeldt, who also wrote the screenplay) shows up to give him a tour. Six hours later, they are still together, so she does the sensible and responsible thing and proposes marriage...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Ira & Abby" is a misguided and insipid romantic comedy that seeks to mine the material and chemistry that results from two polar opposites coming together but both lead characters are so unappealing and underwritten that it is impossible for any spark to occur. For example, if Abby whose main characteristic is that she is a good listener is this drawn to every man she meets, then why isn't she less lonely? However, there is some truth expressed late, especially on the subject of marriage and why it should it not be a decision made lightly. But basically the film is just content to take its shots at the psychoanalytical profession. Yes, we all need someone to talk to but there are also cases that definitely require a professional touch.[/font]

• Fascade F

  
  Don't know how I missed or passed this one up..but it was simply hilarious. To me, Ira Black (Chris Messina) plays the part of the perfect neurotic "schlepper" in this movie.Ira was so bad in relationships that his own psychiatrist doesn't want to see him any… More
  Don't know how I missed or passed this one up..but it was simply hilarious. To me, Ira Black (Chris Messina) plays the part of the perfect neurotic "schlepper" in this movie.Ira was so bad in relationships that his own psychiatrist doesn't want to see him any more...after being with him for 12 years! He advises Ira to go out and find himself. As Ira neglectfully does so and meets Abby (Jennifer Westfeldt who is a rare gem in this film!), at a gym. They meet and greet but Abby has some amazing plans to do more than meet him....introduce him to her parents.The two wind up getting married so early that the penalties for not waiting are huge. This turned out to be so radically whimsically funny that everybody winds up in therapy!!! Please see this classic hysterical romance!

• Deb S

  
  "This is a f^cking nightmare" Judith Light. Pretty much sums this movie up. At 33, Ira can't make up his mind about anything. He's has an on and off relationship with Lea (Maddie Corman) for nine years, he can't finish his doctoral dissertation to allow him… More
  "This is a f^cking nightmare" Judith Light. Pretty much sums this movie up. At 33, Ira can't make up his mind about anything. He's has an on and off relationship with Lea (Maddie Corman) for nine years, he can't finish his doctoral dissertation to allow him to go into his parents' business, he can't decide what to order for lunch and he has been in therapy with the same shrink for 12 years. When his shrink tells him they need to end their therapy sessions because he is not getting better, he decides to join the gym but ends up waiting forever for the saleswoman, who turns out to be Abby. Of course, she's everything he's not: free spirited and perky, a woman who sees the world differently and impetuously proposes marriage and sex to him. A whirlwind courtship and marriage ensues but there are comic complications which include Abby's tangled romantic past and Ira's longtime ex-girlfriend and endless over-analyzing what the other does. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2qbsvmu" target="_blank"><img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2qbsvmu.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> Abby's parents, seemingly the happiest people on Earth, are played by Fred Willard and Frances Conroy. Ira's folks, both tightly wound analysts are played by Judith Light and Robert Klein. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2cels84" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/2cels84.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> Major Spoiler : Ira & Abby hilariously climaxes with the three couples in group therapy with their respective shrinks (among them Jason Alexander) when the father of the bride embarks on an affair with the mother of the groom.

• William G

  
  A plethora of neuroses cannot replace legitimate humor or heart.

• Sunil J

  
  I watch this now whenever I have a bad day because it cheers me up to no end. Abby perhaps outshines Sam from Garden State and I enjoy Ira's paranoia.

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