A Real Pain - Review: A Family-iar Pain

 

Grief is a wild thing. It can impact so many people in such a variety of differing ways, and even those from the same family, reacting to the same source of grief at the same time, can twist that reaction in wildly different ways. Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network,” “Adventureland”) co-stars in a film he has written, directed about that very concept of grief to thunderously emotional, wryly funny, and sweetly effective results. It’s “A Real Pain.” 

The film stars Eisenberg as David Kaplan, a mid-30s Jewish man who goes on a Holocaust tour through Poland with his cousin Benji, played by Kieran Culkin (“Succession,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”), after the death of their grandmother. Throughout the tour, the pair are forced to confront their relationship and emotional availability, as Benji’s loud, brash, overly honest and emotional nature clashes with David’s more reserved, contemplative, pragmatic life. 

Eisenberg and Culkin play wonderfully off each other, each delivering some of their best work in years. Eisenberg manages to perfectly balance his typical characteristics with a slightly bolder and outspoken nature when pushed by his cousin. Culkin meanwhile, is turning in career-best work, turning some difficult work balancing Benji’s legitimately enviable traits with his more outspoken, almost rude, behavior. Their relationship is the basis for the entire film and it's a consistently engrossing and engaging pair of performances. 

Eisenberg and cinematographer Michał Dymek (“EO,” “Wolf”) smartly avoid the more flamboyant look of travel films like this by not only zeroing everything back in on Benji and David, but by utilizing the cities and natural landscapes themselves. At parts, it almost feels like a documentary, or a film quite literally just made by two people. There’s an intimate nature required for these kinds of emotional discussions and revelations that is often attempted, but rarely does it succeed this much. 

Eisenberg’s script is full of awkward pauses and dialogue that sells the realistic nature of this tale from the very first moment. It has the kind of patter that creates a realistic environment and believable banter without feeling unprofessional or unpolished. Its realism filtered through a layer of professionalism to cut out the fat. Regardless though, the small cast all fling barbs and words back and forth with excellent form. Eisenberg and Culkin may be the biggest stars, but the rest of the small cast, consisting of the likes of Will Sharpe (“The White Lotus,” “Casuality”), Jennifer Grey (“Dirty Dancing,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”), among others, is fantastic and nails the “average” vibe of those characters flawlessly. 

Most surprisingly, given this kind of uncomfortable familial love, the film maintains a constant search for answers without spelling things out by the end. Some might even find the ending disappointing, as it refuses to give a definitive statement on the events given and the “answers” one might be seeking through this journey of grief. It’s a remarkably strong note to end on, even given the uncertain nature of it all, and it makes a bigger and more substantial impact than a neat and nice resolution would. It makes a definitive statement by not making a definitive statement. 

“A Real Pain” has a title that serves two purposes and a tale that tries to explain that, with grief, there is no explanation. Eisenberg’s second directorial effort is a fantastically strong portrait of simple filmmaking techniques and fantastic performances. It's a wonderfully funny and quaint little tale, one that invites you in with these characters to experience some true pain. 5/5