The co-screenwriter is Gerald Shapiro, the author of the collection of short stories, “Bad Jews and Other Stories,” on which the film is based.

The story is peppered with sly humor along with its more serious side, and Riegart does a convincing job in delineating Leo, at least until a thoroughly implausible script ploy gets in the way. More on that in a moment.

Riegert the actor is in the good hands of Riegert the director, who has also surrounded himself with an excellent cast, including Isabella Rossellini as Leo’s upset wife, Rachel, Ashley Johnson as their daughter, Eli Wallach as Leo’s grumpy father, Eric Bogosian as a crass rabbi, and Rita Moreno as the woman in Leo’s father’s life. The cast also has such stalwarts as Harris Yulin, Dominic Chianese, Penny Fuller and Jayne Houdyshell, among others.

Importantly, there is also Beverly D’Angelo, who turns up as Betsy, on whom Leo had a crush in high school. When they meet accidentally, although dismissive at first, she is turned on by his ardor and spontaneously suggests a hotel room rendezvous. Believable enough, given sexual impulses. But what follows is not believable for a moment. After the escapade, Leo unannounced turns up at her home with underwear she left behind, is let in by the husband, to whom Leo recounts the affair with the disastrous results that might be expected.

Is Leo in the throes of such a breakdown that he would do something like that? We see other evidence of his collapse, but nothing we see until the confessional scene would indicate a guy would possibly do something as nutty. Guilt he can’t handle? Again, the scene comes out of nowhere, and it throws off the film, which has been carrying us along with involvement.