Misunderstood (1984)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

'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 have seen this movie countless times and it never gets old. This is definitely one of Gene Hackman's most touching and best performances ever! Henry Thomas also gives a brilliant performance as his son, Andrew. Beautifully directed by Jerry Schatzberg, this movie illustrates everything a movie should be. You just cannot find great movies like this anymore. Although a tearjerker, this movie is true to life and makes an important statement about life and love. Why this movie is not available on DVD is incomprehensible. It should be in every family's movie collection. This movie, I believe is out of print, but if you can find it, BUY IT!! You won't be disappointed.

I have been enjoying this film for 20 years and it makes me cry buckets every time.....but in a good way - the feeling of release is immense.Gene Hackman's performance is superb but it's Henry Thomas who is the star; forget E.T., this is real acting. While I admit that the plot-line of two young children losing their mother is depressing, it is sadly a fact of life and I think the film more than adequately portrays the sudden devastating impact on the both the surviving parent and the children. Moreover, it shows the lesson to be learned by all workaholic fathers at how important a hands-on role is to their children and themselves. As an English nanny, I have seen and experienced the sadness all too often. Women - watch and weep. Men - watch, weep and learn! This film should be on DVD NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.