"Ira and Abby" * (out of four): The type of relentlessly forced comedy that makes you truly appreciate the eccentric genius of Woody Allen.

"Ira and Abby" is the type of relentlessly forced comedy, much like "Prime," that makes you truly appreciate the eccentric genius of Woody Allen. They can't all be gems (and a great deal of his films over the past decade sure haven't been) but when he's on, he nails that mix of New York anxiety with the sass needed to make it entertaining. "Ira and Abby" tries so hard to mimic his inimitable formula - messed up neurotic couples, inappropriate love affairs, the need to call therapy, ahem, "analysis" - that it never amounts to more than a subpar parody.

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