from the series Movie Corner…
Drama/Comedy
Searchlight Pictures
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II
Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale [2010], The Social Network [2010]) is director, actor, and writer of A Real Pain. Mr. Eisenberg and his costar Kieran Culkin (The Cider House Rules [1991], No Sudden Move [2021]) makes A Real Pain very captivating. The two men play first cousins. David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) meet in Warsaw, Poland’s airport to visit the Holocaust sites with an experienced tour guide, along with a handful of others of Jewish descent. The two men were close growing up, but over time became further apart. David is married with one small daughter living in a townhouse in a city in the U.S. while Benji is a drifter who hasn’t figured out a clear path for his future.
Even though A Real Pain can be treated as a film that can easily fall into a category with a similar (if not an identical) theme, it successfully conveys emotional sentiment, cerebral undertaking, and an underpinning of grief that I think is one of the best films of 2024.
The contrast is between David, who appears as somewhat of an introvert, but actually is an ambivert, and Benji, who speaks bluntly, if seemingly out of order, putting his listeners back on their heels.
One gets the feeling watching A Real Pain that the attempted genocide of the Jewish population worldwide culminated in the Holocaust and sadly not much has changed. There’s a reason for the Holocaust museums: Never again.
A Real Pain (2024)
Cast: Jesse (David Kaplan), Kieran Culkin (Benji Kaplan), Will Sharpe (James), Daniel Oreskes (Mark), Jakub Gasowski (Receptionist), Liza Sadovy (Diane), Kurt Egyiawan (Eloge), Jennifer Grey (Marcia).
Director: Jesse Eisenberg. Screenwriter: Jesse Eisenberg. Producer: Jesse Eisenberg. Cinematography: Michal Dymek. Running time: 89 minutes. Rated R.
Throughout the film music is from one of Poland’s chief composers: Frederic Chopin.
Howard McQuitter II is a longtime movie critic. He has been reviewing movies for the alley since 2002.
