A REAL PAIN Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes.
Jesse Eisenberg steps behind the camera for the second time for A Real Pain, a deeply personal story about two mismatched cousins making a pilgrimage to Poland, the pre-WWII childhood home of their late, beloved grandmother who survived the Holocaust. The contrast between the two and their very different personalities provide much of the drama in this understated film.
Eisenberg plays the neurotic, anxious and conservative David, a digital ads salesman with a wife and young daughter. Keiran Culkin (from tv series Succession, etc) plays his somewhat erratic and troubled cousin Benji, who was close to their grandmother as he lived in her basement for much of his adult life. Benji has been moody and depressed in the six months since she died. David has arranged for the two cousins to take part in a Jewish heritage tour of Poland, which is led by the knowledgeable and talkative but earnest British guide James (Will Sharpe, from The White Lotus, etc). The tour will even take the party to a concentration camp which, they are warned, may prove quite emotional and distressing.
During the week-long tour Benji’s outspoken nature and outbursts clash with David’s more reserved personality and provides for some uncomfortable moments. But throughout the journey the two also manage to work through some of their emotional baggage.
Eisenberg has drawn upon his own family’s Jewish roots and history to shape much of the drama. The film was shot on location in Poland, and the filmmakers were even granted permission to shoot scenes inside the Majdanek concentration camp. The film has been beautifully shot by Polish cinematographer Michal Dymek (Eo, etc) and gives us a good look at some of the vistas of the country, and it captures its war-torn past with some evocative and resonant moments. However, the piano driven music score from Tzvi Erez, which draws heavily on Chopin’s music, is at times a little manipulative.
Eisenberg’s David plays to his strengths and is another variation on his familiar anxious, uptight and socially awkward screen persona. He has clearly given the showier role to Culkin and he rises to the occasion with a superb but at times manic and grating performance as the annoying and self-destructive Benji that has drawn accolades with a win at the Golden Globes. The chemistry between the two is palpable and natural.
Rounding out the cast is Kurt Egyiawan (from the recent remake of The Exorcist, etc), who plays Elonge, an African-born Jewish convert whose own history with the genocide in Rwanda shapes his deeper understanding of the reasons behind this pilgrimage, and Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing, etc) who plays Marcia, a hard-bitten American divorcee.
This bittersweet film may also remind audiences of 2022’s underwhelming Treasure, in which a Holocaust survivor (played by Stephen Fry) and his daughter (Lena Dunham) embarked on a sentimental journey to Poland hoping to understand the Holocaust by revisiting his childhood places.
While A Real Pain is billed as a comedy it deals with some serious themes about family, history, memory, male friendship, trauma, mental illness, making connections between people, and also connecting with and understanding the past. However, its deliberate pacing and lack of any great dramatic moments or big laughs may leave some in the audience feeling a little underwhelmed.
★★★
