By Leo Dublin
After I left the theater with my grandfather, he said to me “I didn’t think they made movies like that anymore.” I couldn’t agree more, but I’m extremely happy they still do.
A Real Pain is a tragicomedy written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, starring him and Kieran Culkin as cousins going on a heritage tour in Poland as a way of honoring their recently deceased grandmother. Through the course of the film, trauma comes to the surface in trains, concentration camps, and rooftops.
This is Eisenberg’s second directorial effort after the critically-panned When You Finish Saving The World, and it’s amazing to see how much he’s grown since that movie. His direction has a beautiful indie feel, akin to Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise or Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. Eisenberg pushes the camera around Poland, showing the beauty of the country now and the horrors of how it used to be. It’s so genuine in a way most big blockbusters aren’t.
Eisenberg’s performance is also great. David Kaplan feels like the pinnacle of his acting career, both in prowess and in how similar the character is to Eisenberg in real life, OCD-riddled and talking as fast as Eminem raps. He grows amazingly over the course of the film, and you can really feel his love for his cousin develop from obligated to genuine.
The script is easily his best contribution, though. Everything comes out so naturally, like he recorded an actual tour and just transcribed it. The comedy is Tarantino-dry with almost every single joke making me laugh, and the awkwardness is just as palpable. The plot progresses so perfectly with no breaks, flowing immaculately and just pulling you into this screwed-up duo.
Eisenberg obviously isn’t the only person in the movie, of course, and he doesn’t even have close to the best acting in the whole film. Kieran Culkin’s Benji completely cements his place as one of the best younger actors working right now. He’s been perfect in everything since Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and this is no different.
Every line is laced with sadness and desperation, but also a genuine desire to heal and become closer with David. His outbursts, discussions while high, and even just his facial expressions carry so much weight as his feelings fire out of the screen and pierce through the viewers.
And that’s where the best part of A Real Pain is found. It’s not a movie you enjoy, like a Marvel movie. It’s a movie you feel. To some it could come off as emotionally manipulative (which I totally see), but to me it felt extremely genuine. I have family members that are exactly like this, and watching it I was overcome with memories and emotions from those people in my life. The impurities and imperfections in everybody are felt to an extreme degree, and it’s bound to make people uncomfortable because everybody has insecurities, just like the people in the film.
Not everybody is going to have the same feelings about A Real Pain, but you should absolutely see it for the chance that it will affect you as dramatically as it did me. Final score: 9/10.
A Real Pain | Director: Jesse Eisenberg | Writer: Jesse Eisenberg | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin | Rating: R | Genres: Comedy, Drama
