Despite the best efforts and chemistry of stars Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells, the dark comedy I Don’t Understand You becomes a one note joke that gets stretched to the breaking point before the gag even has a proper set up. Too lethargic at the start and lacking in the sort of depth that would make a slow burn comedic thriller engaging, I Don’t Understand You leans so heavily on its stars that it forgets to include much of anything else. It has amusing moments here and there and a pleasantly twisted sensibility, but this project from writer-directors David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano never achieves comedic or dramatic liftoff.
Dom (Kroll) and Cole (Rannells) are a gay couple desperate to adopt a child and start a family of their own. After a previous attempt fell through, breaking their hearts and spirits in the process, they’ve pinned all their hopes on adopting the soon-to-be-born child of kindly Candace (Amanda Seyfried, in a role that’s slightly more than a cameo). She thinks Dom and Cole would be great dads, and agrees to the adoption just before the duo goes on a trip to Italy for their tenth anniversary. What’s supposed to be a celebration of love and a final fun blowoff before the rigours of parenting take over their lives turns into a nightmare scenario. While visiting the home of a legendary, reclusive, and elderly chef (Nunzia Schiano) deep in the Italian countryside, Dom and Cole’s car gets stuck on the private road of an angry local. To make matters worse, upon finally making it to the chef’s home, they accidentally kill their host. Terrified by thoughts of what might happen to them and stymied by further unforeseen arrivals, Dom and Cole’s desperate situation spirals further out of control.
Craig and Crano’s idea is a good one, with I Don’t Understand You coming across like a less lecherous, gayer version of Very Bad Things; another movie where everyday people become unwitting killers and make matters worse by attempting to cover their tracks. But it takes a long time for viewers to get to that point, with the first third of the film largely taken up by observing Dom and Cole’s attempts to secure their adoption, and then upon arriving in Italy, hanging out with a family whose presence will have almost no consequence on the rest of the film. Considering that I Don’t Understand You clocks in at a little over ninety minutes, Craig and Crano waste a lot of time before getting to the meat of the matter.
That slow and clunky start could’ve been forgiven if it were used to better effect, namely in terms of establishing Dom and Cole as stronger characters. Kroll and Rannells, who’ve collaborated on projects before, most notably on the former’s animated series, Big Mouth, have effortless chemistry between them. The comfort level between Rannells and Kroll is visible throughout, and their ability to craft a relationship is nothing short of impressive once realize they’ve been given precious little to work with.
All the viewer knows about Dom and Cole is that they are in love, they want to adopt, and they don’t speak Italian, the latter of which gives the film its title and causes most of the comedic fodder. That’s really it. There are hints of tension in their relationship, but nothing that isn’t already present in most ten year partnerships. We know nothing about their inner lives; just that they are together and that’s it. Making these threadbare characters into fully bodied human beings rests entirely on the talents of the leads and the performances of those who interact with them (most memorably Morgan Spector, who steals all his scenes as the dead woman’s enthusiastic son).
The title gives away the main joke, and Craig and Crano drive it so firmly into the ground that it pays fewer dividends over time. The filmmaking duo is much better when it comes to delivering moments of shock violence or unforeseen twists, and while some of these beats are predictable or well telegraphed, they’re funnier than watching people having trouble communicating. There are only two instances in the entire film where the language barrier jokes earn a hearty laugh. The rest of the time, one wishes Craig and Crano had some better ideas up their sleeve. Rannells and Kroll are great at playing a couple and just as good at nailing ignorant American stereotypes, but these characters are better suited to a sketch or a short than a feature length film. When stretched out to feature length, the shortcomings of I Don’t Understand You become all too apparent, and a somewhat abrupt, less than satisfying ending doesn’t right the ship. It ends up feeling like a movie where the filmmakers had one well worn joke and they struggled to fill in the rest of the details on the fly.
I Don’t Understand You opens in select Canadian cities, including at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, on Friday, June 6, 2025.
