Misunderstood (1984)

'Misunderstood' is an adaptation of a novel by Florence Montgomery but most of all a remake of Luigi Comencini's masterpiece 'Incompreso'.This review is destined to evaluate 'Misunderstood', so here it goes. It's certainly not a bad movie if judged without comparing to the original. However, when compared to the original, it seems artificial in many aspects. The gorgeous Italy is replaced by Tunisia (in North Africa), the settings look unnatural and unrefined, the house looks crude, the scenes seem forced and lack authenticity, the actors lack emotion in their roles (including Henry Thomas, who was brilliant in 'E.T.'), many detailed scenes were removed or modified and there are additional scenes that don't quite fit in the plot. Not even the uncle saves the movie. Here the uncle is a very serious man who rarely laughs, he has nothing to do with the playful uncle from the original.The ending feels somewhat vague comparing to the original and far less emotional too but also leaves you wondering if Andrew survives or not. It ends suddenly and we never really get to know the answer to this question. Gene Hackman is okay but nowhere near as good as Anthony Quayle. Huckleberry Fox is adorable but not in the same league as the kid of the original. Same for Henry Thomas in comparison to the boy of the original.

I saw this movie on its release in 1984. I had much the same relationship with my Dad as the boy in this story, so it touched a raw nerve. When you have an experience like this boy, and you can closely identify with him the storyline takes an on an extremely emotional roller-coaster ride, and needless to say I broke down at the end of the film. I have just connected to the internet and I have been searching for this film for the past 20 years. Now I finally have a copy and I'm going to watch it with my wife and Daughter. Needless to say I have a very close relationship with them because I made sure things with my kids would be different. I never got close to my Dad.

(also may contain spoiler for the movie Incompresso)SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERDoes Andrew die in the the end? Hackman says to his son (as I remember) "you've got to get better" and his son says something like "I will." I think I read a review or something somewhere that in Incompresso, the son dies in the end and if this movie is a remake of the 1966 Italian then I would think he doesn't make it. By the way, does anyone know if Incompresso is not in English and one would have to watch the DVD with subtitles? Also, what scenes are different and where can one get Incompresso? How would you rate it compared to Misunderstood because IMDb has it quite a bit higher.Thanks

This is one of the rare American re-makes of a foreign movie I have ever seen that I can really appreciate! I should have expected as much with the cast including Gene Hackman, Henry Thomas & Huckleberry Fox! Of course the acting is GREAT, but SURPRISE! -->> The story is almost identical to the original Italian "Incompreso".Some new material is introduced & some of the original is excluded! I can't tell the new material (without spoiling the movie), but to all who have seen "Incompreso", the worst exclusion (and it hurts) is the tear jerking camera scene. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes touching movies.