Film review: ‘A real pain’

Opening in theaters November 1 is ‘A real pain,” directed by Jesse Eisenberg and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Gray, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza SadovyAnd Daniel Oreskes.

Related article: Jessie Eisenberg and Claire Danes talk about FX’s ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’

First thoughts

Jesse Eisenberg has long been an acquired taste as an actor, but as a director, his second feature, “A Real Pain,” shows tremendous growth since his 2022 debut behind the camera.When you’re done saving the world.’ While that film felt incomplete and abrasive in some ways, “A Real Pain” brings tremendous emotional sensitivity and more focused humor to the story of two cousins ​​who travel together to the land of their family’s heritage, and the problems that come with it. journey entails.

Eisenberg also wrote and stars in the picture as the more grounded of the two characters, but the showcase performance is undoubtedly Kieran Culkin’s, coming off his incredible run on ‘Succession‘ to create here a character who is complex, infuriating, endearing and deeply wounded. ‘A Real Pain’ seems deceptively modest at first, but is a powerfully funny and poignant look at family, loneliness, depression and heritage.

Story and direction

David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) are cousins ​​who were super close as children, but grew apart as adults. David is married with a child and a solid but unglamorous job in technology, and is plagued by anxiety. Benji is much looser and lives in what can best be described as a state of arrested development, although ultimately there is more to it than that.

The two, who have not seen each other for years, will meet at the airport for a flight to Poland, where they will both visit sites linked to their family and the Holocaust thanks to the money left to them by their late, beloved grandmother . From the start, Benji is much more diabolical, even smuggling weed on board an international flight, much to David’s horror. Once they arrive in Poland and meet the rest of their tour group, Benji’s free-spiritedness manifests itself even more in a way that is both charming and exasperating, both for David and the group.

Whether it’s berating cerebral tour guide James (Will Sharpe) for not showing more emotion at the locations they visit, or abruptly deciding not to sit in the paid first-class section of the train (due to a sudden interest in human rights), or by having the group reenact a battle scene at a memorial in the middle of a park, Benji dominates the tour with his outsized personality and antics. This puts him at odds with the more reserved David, who struggles with his own problems and is often ashamed of his cousin’s behavior. But as more of their family history comes to light, the double meaning of the film’s title also emerges: yes, Benji is a real pain in the ass, but he’s also dealing with the real pain of mental illness, which has left him has led to some dark places. which he and David must confront.

But while that sounds grim – and the film contains some heavy emotional moments – much of ‘A Real Pain’ is devastatingly funny, thanks again to Benji’s interactions with the tour group and the world around him. It’s a tonal balancing act beautifully managed by Eisenberg’s sharp script and straightforward direction, and resonates across a series of both beautiful and bleak locations in Poland, beautifully shot by Michel Dymek. In one particularly terrifying sequence, the group travels through a lush landscape to eventually arrive at the real-life Majdanek concentration camp, the setting for one of the film’s quietest and almost overwhelmingly powerful scenes.

The cast

As we noted above, as an actor Jesse Eisenberg is not always everyone’s cup of tea: throughout his career he has specialized in nervous, neurotic, highly intellectual characters who often cannot see past their own fears. But after his nuanced work on the ‘Fleishman is in trouble‘ miniseries, Eisenberg here brings more gravitas and even playfulness to the role of David, who may not possess the same free spirit as his cousin, but works hard to be content with who he is.

Yet Eisenberg generously cedes the spotlight to his sparring partner Culkin, who dominates throughout the film. His Benji is initially righteous, arrogantly confident, casually careless and determined to push people’s buttons. But beneath that lies a much deeper pain that sits deep in his soul, which Culkin brings out masterfully as he slowly peels away Benji’s bravado and shows us the scared boy inside. It’s a masterful performance from an actor who really comes into his own and effortlessly converts our annoyance with Benji into empathy and compassion.

The supporting cast – including Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe and others – complete their assignments believably and humorously, as do the rest of the tour group that David and Benji are part of, painting portraits of exactly the kind of people you’ll find on comes across a holiday. journey like this and the way their interactions unfold as they are briefly united as travel partners and even friends willing to share pieces of themselves with complete strangers.

Final thoughts

‘A Real Pain’ is the kind of “small” independent film (albeit released by Disney subsidiary Searchlight Pictures) that may seem modest in its scope, but actually says something big about family history in every sense of the word. It’s also a poignant reminder of how important it is to learn where we come from and stay in touch with the people we love, a theme that Eisenberg expertly conveys without being heavy-handed or cloying.

It’s also incredibly funny, beautiful to watch, and should be in the movie Oscars conversation for best supporting actor and at least best original screenplay. Far from being a movie, “A Real Pain” is an encouraging vehicle for both Jesse Eisenberg’s future directing career and Kieran Culkin’s continued evolution as one of our best stealth actors.

‘A Real Pain’ gets 8.5 out of 10 stars.

What is the plot of ‘A Real Pain’?

When cousins ​​David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) tour Poland in tribute to their late grandmother, long-standing tensions and unresolved issues in their relationship and family history come to the surface.

Who is in the cast of ‘A Real Pain’?

• Jesse Eisenberg as David Kaplan
• Kieran Culkin as Benji Kaplan
• Will Sharpe as James
• Jennifer Gray as Marcia
• Kurt Egyiawan as Eloge
• Liza Sadovy as Diane
• Daniel Oreskes as Mark
• Ellora Torchia as Priya

Jesse Eisenberg on the set of ‘A Real Pain’. Photo by Agata Grzybowska, courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All rights reserved.

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