IRA & ABBY (USA)

This sophomore effort by actress/writer Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein) is as much the crowd pleaser as the debut. Both premiered and won the audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival before touring the festival circuit. It's an "indie" picture that could perform like a "major" at the box office if handled properly. The premise is less original and "edgy" than Kissing Jessica Stein but it's just as funny.

An indecisive procastinator named Ira walks into a gym and, instead of getting a membership, gets a date with the perky and disarming saleswoman Abby (Westfeldt). They fall hard and fast for each other. She proposes marriage and he can't find a reason to refuse.Ira & Abby milks the culture clash between Ira's parents, who are angst-ridden Jewish analysts-not-therapists, and Abby's cheerful New-Age folks. Plot thickens when Ira's mom and Abby's dad start having a torrid affair and Ira discovers post-nuptials that he is Abby's third husband. Everyone enters therapy to deal with the fallout and all hell breaks loose when the shrinks get involved, culminating in a riotous group therapy session.

Ira & Abby moves like a sitcom but the material is a notch above. Veteran actors Robert Kline, Judith Light, and Fred Willard are masters at this type of comedy. Westfeldt and Six Feet Under's Chris Messina are likable as the titular couple. Nothing earth-shattering going on here but I was amused. Neil Simon and Woody Allen fans are likely to be delighted.