September 24, 2025
FILM: I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU
DIRECTED BY: DAVID JOSEPH CRAIG, BRIAN CRANO
STARRING: NICK KROLL, ANDREW RANNELLS, MORGAN SPECTOR
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There are some films that you just have to ride with to enjoy. Forget about moral implications or realism, simply laugh and move on. That is the way to approach I Don’t Understand You. It stars Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells as Dom and Cole, a couple planning to adopt a baby while also celebrating their anniversary in Italy. They’ve clearly wanted a child for a while (they’re part of a gay generation that feels the need to build bigger families.) They seem to want it all. Fortunately, there’s a woman named Candice (Amanda Seyfried) who is about to give birth and decides the couple would be perfect for the child she is planning to give up.
As Dom and Cole embark on their Italian journey things start to go terribly wrong. They endure heavy rain, their car gets stuck in mud, and a furious driver reluctantly comes to their rescue. Most of the Italians here don’t speak English, hence the title and a big source of the film’s humor. Things then go more over the top and improbable in ways only a genre film like this can go. It is essentially a dark screwball comedy thriller. Back in the 1930s when films such as It Happened One Night graced our movie theaters, audiences were in need of an escape. No doubt many people need one today. But with Capra’s film the most scandalous thing that happens is an unmarried man and woman stay in the same motel room. Now, ninety years later Dom and Cole get involved in some pretty significant comical but brutal physical altercations in which moral barriers are broken in major ways not once or twice but multiple times. Because of the type of film this is, it is all played for laughs. However, if one starts thinking about the dark implications this could have for the couple’s future life together, they’d have to consider just how much they really empathize with these characters. (I’m being very coy here because I don’t want to give away any of the major plot points. Suffice to say, there were gasps and big laughs at the screening when I saw the film.)
Leaving the morality aside, the film really does work as a kind of comedy thriller. The physical humor is well-directed and staged and all of the actors involved are very good. First and foremost, the film wouldn’t work without the great chemistry between Kroll and Rannells. They are both seasoned actors who know just the right beats to play during their scenes together (which is essentially the entire film.) They clearly appear to be a couple that has been together for some time and have the usual squabbles one might expect from their years together. There’s also a great supporting cast including Morgan Spector as the buff Italian son of an old woman who opens her home to guests for dinner. Spector handles the accent and darkly humorous scenes very well.
To say there are surprises and big narrative twists here would be an understatement. The plot moves in increasingly improbable and slapstick directions that make the film difficult to take seriously. But between the settings, the actors, and some genuine laughs (for those who can endure the ridiculousness of what is happening on screen) the film can be pretty entertaining. While physical comedy might not be as common today as it was in the past, it definitely qualifies this film as a “popcorn flick.” Just don’t think about it too much.
I Don’t Understand You is currently streaming on Hulu.
FILM: I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU
DIRECTED BY: DAVID JOSEPH CRAIG, BRIAN CRANO
STARRING: NICK KROLL, ANDREW RANNELLS, MORGAN SPECTOR
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There are some films that you just have to ride with to enjoy. Forget about moral implications or realism, simply laugh and move on. That is the way to approach I Don’t Understand You. It stars Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells as Dom and Cole, a couple planning to adopt a baby while also celebrating their anniversary in Italy. They’ve clearly wanted a child for a while (they’re part of a gay generation that feels the need to build bigger families.) They seem to want it all. Fortunately, there’s a woman named Candice (Amanda Seyfried) who is about to give birth and decides the couple would be perfect for the child she is planning to give up.
As Dom and Cole embark on their Italian journey things start to go terribly wrong. They endure heavy rain, their car gets stuck in mud, and a furious driver reluctantly comes to their rescue. Most of the Italians here don’t speak English, hence the title and a big source of the film’s humor. Things then go more over the top and improbable in ways only a genre film like this can go. It is essentially a dark screwball comedy thriller. Back in the 1930s when films such as It Happened One Night graced our movie theaters, audiences were in need of an escape. No doubt many people need one today. But with Capra’s film the most scandalous thing that happens is an unmarried man and woman stay in the same motel room. Now, ninety years later Dom and Cole get involved in some pretty significant comical but brutal physical altercations in which moral barriers are broken in major ways not once or twice but multiple times. Because of the type of film this is, it is all played for laughs. However, if one starts thinking about the dark implications this could have for the couple’s future life together, they’d have to consider just how much they really empathize with these characters. (I’m being very coy here because I don’t want to give away any of the major plot points. Suffice to say, there were gasps and big laughs at the screening when I saw the film.)
Leaving the morality aside, the film really does work as a kind of comedy thriller. The physical humor is well-directed and staged and all of the actors involved are very good. First and foremost, the film wouldn’t work without the great chemistry between Kroll and Rannells. They are both seasoned actors who know just the right beats to play during their scenes together (which is essentially the entire film.) They clearly appear to be a couple that has been together for some time and have the usual squabbles one might expect from their years together. There’s also a great supporting cast including Morgan Spector as the buff Italian son of an old woman who opens her home to guests for dinner. Spector handles the accent and darkly humorous scenes very well.
To say there are surprises and big narrative twists here would be an understatement. The plot moves in increasingly improbable and slapstick directions that make the film difficult to take seriously. But between the settings, the actors, and some genuine laughs (for those who can endure the ridiculousness of what is happening on screen) the film can be pretty entertaining. While physical comedy might not be as common today as it was in the past, it definitely qualifies this film as a “popcorn flick.” Just don’t think about it too much.
I Don’t Understand You is currently streaming on Hulu.