Jesse Eisenberg’s sophomore effort behind the director’s chair, 2024’s A Real Pain, has been on the very top of my most anticipated list for quite some time. There was just something about the film’s concept that intrigued me. I hadn’t watched Succession, so I really didn’t know anything about Kieran Culkin’s recent work. In fact, I really only knew him from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Jesse Eisenberg is a good actor, but his 2023 directorial debut When You Finish Saving The World left me underwhelmed. But something about the combination of everything had me excited nonetheless.
It was about 5 minutes into the film, upon seeing Eisenberg’s David and Culkin’s Benji reunite at an airport while preparing to embark on a tour of Poland in honor of their late Polish grandmother, that I was hooked. Upon seeing each other, Benji remarks to his cousin that he had been at the airport for a while and that “airports open super early, you can just come and hang out”. This after David spent all morning calling Benji to no response making sure he got there on time, left early, avoided traffic, etc. Their conflicting personalities become the focal point of the story as the two traverse through Poland with a group of interesting characters on a Holocaust heritage tour.
Much like Martin Scorsese is able to create iconic scripts about the Italian mob in part due to his experiences with them growing up in New York, Eisenberg taps into his own experiences and Polish-Jewish ancestry to create A Real Pain. He initially conceived the idea of a buddy comedy/drama on a similar trip to Poland with his now wife Anna Strout. Much of the dialogue for Benji and David come from Eisenberg’s own thoughts and experiences on his heritage tour. But before he could put his words to the screen, he first sent it to the stage. He debuted an off-Broadway production of his play The Revisionist in 2013, which bears similarities to A Real Pain. Then he created a short story about two friends taking a trip to Mongolia for Tablet magazine, and from there he took all of these ideas together to create this film. And it pays off. It’s very apparent how much care has been taken to create a script that invests deeply into it’s characters, their emotions and experiences while not wasting any time. It’s funny, emotional, witty, and deals with some heavy themes while not taking itself too seriously.
And while Eisenberg initially wrote the Benji character for himself, he ultimately cast Kieran Culkin in the role. That proved to be an incredible decision. Culkin really shines in a breakout role that all but assuredly locks up an Academy Award win for the actor. Culkin’s Benji is a manic, unpredictable, unflinchingly honest man who has deep rooted issues but also is the kind of person that lights up every single room he steps into. It’s the kind of person that everyone knows, for better or for worse.
It’s the smart writing that makes the film feel so familiar, even with its runtime being a meager 90 minutes. Eisenberg conveys a lot on screen through the actions of his characters that reveal a lot about who they are. Even more comes through once those characters begin to speak. There are several moments that stand out in this way, including one climactic dinner scene with the tour group at a local restaurant, or when Benji and David smoke weed out on their hotel rooftop. You get to feel so much of what the characters are feeling, not just in their words but their actions too. You get moments of pride, sadness, embarrassment, joy, optimism and so much more. It’s quite impressive, really. And with the backdrop being a tour through Poland and its history with the holocaust, some of these personal issues really get the ability to come to the forefront and are allowed the opportunity to breath with each scene.
By the end of the film, there really isn’t any major revelations either, which I think really work for the film. Instead, each character has little moments that make me believe they can become better folks long after the credits roll. A Real Pain does a good job of not giving anything away easily at the end, instead opting to allow the audience to believe what they want about what happens next for each character.
Final Thoughts
I really love A Real Pain. I’m a sucker for character-focused dramas, and especially ones with as tight of a script as this one. There’s just something about seeing the polar opposite personalities of Benji and David playing out together that works so well for me. It’s funny yet also incredibly serious and emotional at times. And at just 90 minutes, it’s easily digestible. This is definitely a must watch film going forward.
4.5/5
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