Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” Asks Us to Acknowledge Our Pain – Review
- Colton Gomez
- Jan 23
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 11
Review
By Colton Gomez | 01/23/25 | 12:45 P.M. Mountain Time
Comedy, Drama| Rated R | 1 hr 30 min | "A Real Pain" Release Date: November 1, 2024
“A Real Pain” is the second of Jesse Eisenberg’s directed features. He also wrote, produced, and costars in it. “A Real Pain” has earned two Oscar nominations. One for Kieran Culkin as a supporting actor, and the other for Jesse Eisenberg as writer of an original screenplay. Both of these are very well deserved and I think they have excellent chances of winning.
Cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) leave the states to go on a Holocaust tour of Poland to honor the memory of their late grandmother. David is a tightly wound bundle of nerves who always tries to make social situations as smooth as possible. Benji is a refreshingly honest person with a high emotional sensitivity. He’s also full of charm and can make friends with anybody. They are part of a small group that includes Jennifer Grey as a divorcee, Will Sharpe as their British tour guide, Kurt Egyiawan as a Rwandan genocide survivor, and playing husband and wife retirees are Daniel Oreskes and Liza Sadovy. Their tour is filled with laughs, connection, sorrow, and remembrance.
Eisenberg chooses to score the film with Polish composer Chopin’s classical piano pieces. This helps to connect the film with Polish history and culture. It also works spectacularly to help shape the performances of Eisenberg and Culkin. Chopin’s quick-stepping piano dances up and down in tone as we stare at interesting architecture. It lays the foundation for the trip as Benji is a character of extreme highs and extreme lows. We can see his mind working as he stares at the tour’s first statue accompanied by the scaling of Chopin. Immediately, we are told Benji is a complicated character. David is also part of the scene but in the background. David, too, is complicated, but doesn’t allow that part of himself to be seen or engaged with. Benji is one to put all of himself on display in his desire for people to simply be honest with each other and acknowledge that life isn’t all beautiful all the time.
Culkin does astounding work to create this character. This is a tough role to get right and in the hands of a lesser actor, he comes off as rude, impatient, immature, and despicable. But Culkin knows what he’s doing. He feels like a real person with real pain who actually seems to restrain himself a bit in how he displays himself. Seeing Benji act out sometimes and hold back other times, shows how tormented he is as a person who’s dealing with the loss of his grandmother, who he calls, “my most favorite person in the world.” Culkin is the acting stand out of the film as he brings a horrifying sorrow to a person who just wants to feel like he matters in other people’s lives. Culkin brings this character to life who is funny, honest, charming, and chaotic.
Eisenberg has a less showy role but his is equally important. His role grounds the film as a modern, anxiety-ridden, working family man who doesn’t feel the need to burden everyone with his pain because it is “so unexceptional.” He does an amazing job with his character but also as writer, director, and producer of the film. This film feels like it has a life of its own. This isn’t a vanity project for Eisenberg but a truly meaningful story about connection and honesty in a world that has seemingly lost meaning of both those terms. He shapes his characters and their performances so that they also feel like real people who you have met or will meet. Nobody tries to steal the show. Everyone in this movie is doing their part to support Eisenberg’s vision.
I watched this film twice and it only improved on the second watch. I noticed more things that Eisenberg and Culkin were doing as actors that helped to make them feel real and reactive. Eisenberg will give little facial twitches that almost form a smile, as if he’s actively resisting feeling any emotion for fear of it being misunderstood or not appropriate, even when he’s being complimented. Culkin watches his costars for their reactions closely. He tries to make it seem as if he doesn’t care that much about what other people think of him but those quick glances tell us he’s depending on their acknowledgment.
Being nice, cordial, and conscious of others is possibly good for the moment but in the long run it just yields further, hidden pain. The reflective pain of what we wish we would have done, what we wish we would have said, and how we wish we were unafraid to experience life and let others experience us in turn. Benji is unafraid to confront his issues with people as he is unafraid to make friends with them just as readily. He brings honesty with him everywhere he goes. But he isn't rude. He keeps others honest as he wishes others kept him honest; like his grandma did.
This is a fairly simple and straightforward story that is neatly wrapped in a ninety-minute package. But in those short ninety minutes, Eisenberg brings us a story that feels right and relevant. He performs a great feat of swinging our emotions around from high laughter to tragic remembrance and all in between that feels so natural and effortless. He engages us in a great conversation of when and how to acknowledge our feelings but lets the question stay with you.
Eisenberg delivers a great story in “A Real Pain.” I’m excited to see his directing skills progress. Some of the choices early on in the film felt slightly unnatural and disconnected with the rest of the film. Namely some odd lines of dialogue, some blocking direction, and some scenes where performances didn’t feel like they should have made the final cut. I’m unsure where the issues stem from. It could be from direction, performance, or editing that makes these few parts feel off. Nevertheless, this is a great story and a great film. Knowing that the budget for this film was only $3 million makes it all the more impressive. There are a multitude of reasons to see this film and seeing as Culkin and Eisenberg were recently nominated for Academy Awards, maybe start there.
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Review by Colton Gomez
Colton Gomez earned his BA in Film Studies from Weber State University. He owns and operates ColtonGomez.com. Here, he covers new releases in theaters and on streaming. For short versions of his reviews, check out his LetterBoxd
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