Comment’s page doesn’t work with ANY comments plugins

I keep trying to use plugins to allow for inline comments with replies, etc. but they wouldn’t work. So, I looked at the code for comments.php and noticed it doesn’t use the standard wp_comments tags which probably is why the plugins don’t work with it. I have no clue why the theme’s author chose to not use the standard wordpress comments tag, but i’d appreciate it if anyone could help me figure out how to put the standard tag back in without messing anything up. Here’s the code for my comments.php page. Thank you!

<?php // Do not delete these lines
	if ('comments.php' == basename($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']))
		die ('Please do not load this page directly. Thanks!');

	if (!empty($post->post_password)) { // if there's a password
		if ($_COOKIE['wp-postpass_' . COOKIEHASH] != $post->post_password) {  // and it doesn't match the cookie
			?>

			<p>This post is password protected. Enter the password to view comments.</p>

			<?php
			return;
		}
	}

	/* This variable is for alternating comment background */
	$oddcomment = ' alt';
?>

<!-- You can start editing here. -->

<div id="comments" class="comments-list">
<?php if ($comments) : ?>
<h2><?php comments_number('No Responses', '1 Response', '% Responses' ); ?> to <?php the_title(); ?></h2>

<?php foreach ($comments as $comment) : ?>
 <div class="entry <?php echo $oddcomment; ?>" id="comment-<?php comment_ID(); ?>">
 <p class="avt"><img src="<?php gravatar("R", 60); ?>" alt="Avatar" /></p>
 <p class="name"><?php comment_author_link(); ?></p>
 <p class="date"><a href="#comment-<?php comment_ID() ?>"><?php comment_date('F jS, Y') ?> at <?php comment_time() ?></a>  <?php edit_comment_link('edit','&nbsp;&nbsp;',''); ?></p>
<?php if ($comment->comment_approved == '0') : ?>
 <p><em style=" font-style: normal; color:#FF0000;">Your comment is awaiting moderation.</em></p>
 <?php endif; ?>
 <div class="con"><?php comment_text() ?></div>
</div>

<?php
/* Changes every other comment to a different class */
$oddcomment = ( empty( $oddcomment ) ) ? ' alt ' : '';
?>
<?php endforeach; ?>

<?php elseif ('open' != $post->comment_status) : ?>
<p>Comments are closed.</p>
<?php endif; ?>
</div>

<div class="comments-form">
<?php if ('open' == $post->comment_status) : ?>
<h3 id="respond">Comment Form</h3>
<form id="comment-form" action="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-comments-post.php" method="post">
<?php if ( get_option('comment_registration') && !$user_ID ) : ?>
<p>You must be <a href="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-login.php?redirect_to=<?php echo urlencode(get_permalink()); ?>">logged in</a> to post a comment.</p>
<?php else : ?>

<?php if ( $user_ID ) : ?>
<p>Logged in as <a href="<?php echo get_option('siteurl'); ?>/wp-admin/profile.php"><?php echo $user_identity; ?></a></p>
<?php else : ?>
<p><input id="comment-name" value="<?php echo $comment_author; ?>" name="author"  type="text" /> <label for="comment-name">Your Name <strong class="required"><?php if ($req) echo "(required)"; ?></strong></label></p>
<p><input id="comment-email" name="email" value="<?php echo $comment_author_email; ?>" type="text" /> <label for="comment-name">Your Email <strong class="required"><?php if ($req) echo "(required)"; ?></strong></label></p>
<p><input id="comment-url" name="url" value="<?php echo $comment_author_url; ?>" type="text" /> <label for="comment-name">Your URL</label></p>
<?php endif; ?>
<p><textarea name="comment" cols="50" rows="8"></textarea></p>
<p><input name="submit" type="submit" id="submit" tabindex="5" class="button" value="Submit Comment" /></p>
<input type="hidden" name="comment_post_ID" value="<?php echo $id; ?>" />
<?php endif; ?>
</form>

<?php endif; ?>
</div>