A Real Pain (2024)
Directed by: Jesse Eisenberg
Premise: A pair of Jewish-American cousins (Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) journey to Poland to participate in a Holocaust tour and visit the ancestral home of their late grandmother.
What Works: A Real Pain is primarily about the experiences of David and Benji, American cousins who grew up together but as adults live different lives. David and Benji have traveled to Poland following the death of their beloved grandmother who was a Holocaust survivor. Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are an extraordinary pair. They are cast to type with Eisenberg as the shifty intellectual and Culkin as the impulsive extrovert. As Benji, Culkin has the showier role. Benji is highly charismatic but also a touch manic and maybe bipolar. However, there is a quiet sadness to the character that Culkin draws out in the quiet moments. Eisenberg, who is also the writer and director of A Real Pain, plays the less ostentatious character but David is essential and his reactions to Benji reveal their complicated backstory. David and Benji get equal weight and through their story the filmmakers address a wide range of ideas. A Real Pain is most obviously about the Jewish experience a few generations removed from the Holocaust. But the film is about more than that. It’s partly about grief as David and Benji cope with the loss of their grandmother and it’s also about the immigrant experience as the character trace their late grandmother’s history and try to reconcile her experiences with their own lives. A Real Pain is also about a particularly contemporary issue of young men who are lost; Benji is aimless and the trip gives him a sense of direction but also highlights his lack of accomplishments. The film comes at the viewer at all these different angles while telling a story that is deeply affecting and very funny. At times it is reminiscent of John Hughes’ Planes, Trains and Automobiles in the way it mixes drama and comedy with characters who are memorable, empathetic, and fascinating.
What Doesn’t: The Poland of A Real Pain often feels like a generic European background. The travelers have almost no interaction with the locals nor do they encounter uniquely Polish landmarks, traditions, or food. Many scenes are strangely absent of other people. The members of the tour group are often the only ones on screen. The absence of local color is commented upon at one point by Culkin’s character but the observation only serves to draw attention to this quality in the film. It doesn’t lead to any further revelation. This seems a curious omission from a movie about characters getting in touch with their heritage.
Bottom Line: A Real Pain is more than just a travelogue or a Holocaust film. It’s a complex character study and a relevant examination of the diasporic experience, masculinity, and grief. All this is addressed through characters brought to life by Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin’s tremendous performances.
Episode: #1024 (November 24, 2024)