There’s been a lot of hype about Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” ahead of its opening. Let’s cut to the chase: it’s all true.
A sad, sweet journey, “A Real Pain” was written and directed by Eisenberg, one of the most likeable and simultaneously edgy contemporary actors. He and Culkin, the rocketing star of “Succession,” play first cousins who travel to Poland to see the village their recently deceased grandmother came from.
Eisenberg uses a Polish cinematographer, 34 year old Michal Dymek, for verisimilitude. Chopin, the great Polish composer, is the soundtrack. The movie was shot in Warsaw and environs. Talk about an immersive experience!
Eisneberg, as successful David, and Culkin, as manchild Benjy, join a tourist group in Warsaw that includes a surprising (and welcome Jennifer Grey) as a recent divorcee, Will Sharpe as the British tour guide, Daniel Oreskes and Liza Sadovy as an innocuous couple, and a sublime Kurt Egiyawan as an African turned Jewish who’s come to see history.
Every bit of the first pages of Eisenberg’s screenplay set up the cousins quickly. David is serious and committed to a life plan — wife, kid, job. Benjy is a mess, and as Culkin peels away his layers, he’s revealed as someone who demands attention and gets it.
“A Real Pain” is a short film (90 minutes) that gives you just enough information about the cousins’ backgrounds that when they finally get to their family’s Polish village, the result is satisfying…for a moment. But now what?
Eisenberg gives himself two great speeches that will land him in the Best Supporting category at all awards shows. But his portrait of Benjy, realized by Culkin, is a dissection of “Succession”‘s Roman Roy that has an unnerving ending. Has this trip to discover roots disturbed new branches? Culkin is jarringly good. Eisenberg’s character study is complete. His screenplay will also be front and center this winter.
