This film was one of the worst I have seen in years. The script reminded me of a childhood game where you supply random nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and then insert them into a previously written paragraph. Actually, the game was funnier than this movie. The worst aspect of this film is the lack of authenticity that permeates the film. None of the characters has a personality; they all behave as if they were in a bad sitcom, reciting random lines that are supposed to be quirky but which are trivial at best. In addition, none of the characters displays even a cursory knowledge of the profession they are supposed to be in. For example, Ira is supposed to be working on a dissertation, but you never hear him talk about it or even mention what university he is supposed to attend. As for intelligence, Ira exhibits no more brain activity than a fruit fly. He makes no cultural or scientific references in the entire movie, making it impossible to determine what his "dissertation" might be. As for Abby, she is supposed to be a gym instructor, and maybe a physical therapist, but all she does is munch on junk food and spew out psychobabble. I have been in physical therapy, and I certainly never encountered anyone as vapid as Abby. This adds up to a film without any value. In a Woody Allen film you will hear references to literature, philosophy, and history, and the sound track will frequently feature classical and jazz music that meshes with the action (for example, Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" quartet in his "Crimes and Misdemeanors"). In this film, you have a cultural void. Sadly, the films I see from Iran and Bangladesh at the Montreal Film Festival have more cultural references than this film. Another terrible aspect of the film is its use of clichés. In one scene, the characters are forced to go into the subway (horrors!), and of course there is a man who brandishes a pistol and holds up the people in the car. Naturally, Abby has to make this funny, so she takes up a collection. To those of us who used the subway for decades, and whose chief concern was trying to deal with the delays and the inaudible sound system, this paranoid view of the subway is one more false note in the movie. Later, a flashback serves as an excuse for a sick adolescent male fantasy, as Ira imagines that Abby makes out with all the men in the car. I know that movies that display firearms have a better chance of getting distribution, and that women behaving licentiously (in other bad films women usually kiss other women for no reason) tends to be seen as edgy, but these devices are presented in an extremely contrived manner. In short, you would be hard pressed to find a movie with less content or intelligence.
Review of Ira & Abby
