I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU
(Check out Jessica Baxter’s I Don’t Understand You movie review. It’s in theaters now via Vertical Entertainment. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
Watching I Don’t Understand You, the new semi-autobiographical comedy/thriller co-written and directed by real-life married couple Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig, I was reminded of my own “imminent parenthood” time. There is a certain panic that sets in when it’s definitely happening but you’re not sure you’re ready. In the case of I Don’t Understand You, it goes off the rails in very broad ways, but the vibes are inherently relatable. The dark comedy stars Nick Kroll (TVs Kroll Show, Big Mouth) and Andrew Rannells (TVs Big Mouth, Girls) as the Craig and Crano proxies, who embark on a wedding anniversary/babymoon to Italy on the cusp of their impending fatherhood.
Crano and Craig’s debut is, in many ways, a tribute/throwback to outrageous comedies about couples who see their relationship tested beyond their wildest imaginations. Films like, The Money Pit, Date Night, and Flirting with Disaster spring to mind. There’s also a top note of misunderstanding-based violence, like in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. I won’t spoil the journey, but viewers should be prepared. for. anything.
We first meet Dom and Cole as they record and then re-record an introduction video to send to their prospective surrogate (played sparingly and virtually by Amanda Seyfried). The men struggle to find the balance between being themselves and making a good impression. But no matter what, they don’t want to get burned again (their previous surrogate wasn’t even pregnant and made off with a large sum of money). Plus, they REALLY want to become parents.
Craig and Crano really were scammed by a would-be surrogate, got stranded in the Italian countryside, and had to make their way through the crisis with only the most basic Italian skills (there are several jokes about the ineffectiveness of Duo Lingo in the film). Dom and Cole can barely communicate with the people tasked to help them, and the cultural differences between Italians and Americans cannot be overstated.
In the film, there are many nods to the ingrained homophobia that remains rampant outside of major Italian cities (and, let’s be honest, outside of every major city in the world). But Dom and Cole are also financially comfortable cis white men. This film doesn’t warrant a homophobia trigger warning as much as it does a “what the fuck” warning. It’s more funny than horrific by a wide margin, but it fully embraces the darkness implied by “dark comedy”.
Darker still when you consider that Amanda Knox was a consultant on the film. She was hired primarily for her ability to translate between Italian and English. She acquired that ability when, in her early twenties, she spent 4 years in an Italian prison, having been falsely accused of murdering her roommate. She is perhaps history’s most egregious victim of a “simple misunderstanding in Italy”. I didn’t know about her involvement until I saw her name in the end credits, but I was already thinking about her a lot as I watched the film. She’s local to my hometown of Seattle, and I’ve followed her closely over the years, compelled by her story of heinous injustice that began as a misunderstanding over cultural differences. (I highly recommend both of her books, Waiting to be Heard, and Free: A Search for Meaning). Director Brian McGinn (the2016 Netflix documentary Amanda Knox) put Craig and Crano in touch with her. Kroll and Rannells only found out after the fact. Kroll has subsequently expressed remorse over ad-libbing a couple of jokes “dropping her name” (source: Variety) during production.
It’s sometimes a challenge to root for Dom and Cole, but it’s never impossible. They frequently remind themselves and the audience that everything they do after their car breaks down is in service of returning home so that they can start their new life together as parents. Starting with the introduction video is a clever bit of exposition that helps flesh these two men out as a well-meaning couple that have a lot of love to give to their impending baby. Maybe they lose their minds a little in the process. But it also helps them see their goal more clearly.
Rounding out the cast are some very Italian performers (cast on location), and one swarthy American (Morgan Spector, TVs The Gilded Age) who speaks Italian very well and also serves as welcome eye candy in a very tense part of the film.
Like a lot of the great comedies, I Don’t Understand You has a broad premise that helps deliver some very relatable themes about the sacrifices a couple makes when they shift into parenthood, as well as the ways in which learning a language on an app is nowhere near enough to prepare a foreigner for cultural immersion.
– Jessica Baxter (@TheBaxter)
Vertical Entertainment; Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig; I Don’t Understand You;
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