A Real Pain
A movie review by Alex First
Jesse Eisenberg has used his Jewish family’s roots to craft a fictitious story about cousins making a pilgrimage to their late grandmother’s childhood home in Poland.
Eisenberg plays anxious New Yorker, married father of one and digital ad salesman David Kaplan.
His travelling companion on the week-long trip is Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin), a larger-than-life character, who lurches from personable to accusatory.
Born three weeks apart, Benji was particularly close to their grandmother, who only recently passed away.
He acknowledges he has been in a funk since she died.
The pair was left money in their grandmother’s will to take a heritage tour with a small number of fellow Jews.
Their respectful British guide James (Will Sharpe) explains the sightseeing will incorporate the country’s painful past, including a visit to a concentration camp.
Although they clearly care for one another, David and Benji are like chalk and cheese. They have a love/hate relationship.
Benji can be charming and light up a room. He appears to revel in being the life of the party. But, at a moment’s notice, he can turn on those he has just embraced.
He is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve – one moment buoyant and the next melancholic.
He suffers a major meltdown after they board a train and head straight to the first-class carriage that they have paid for.
Given that Jews were transported to their deaths in overcrowded trains, Benji finds that totally inappropriate and he says so forcefully.
On more than the odd occasion, David – who pops pills to calm himself – is embarrassed, even ashamed of his cousin’s behaviour.
Their adventure will be filled with a series of highs and lows, as Benji’s odd temperament becomes a talking point.
Given the subject matter, I found A Real Pain surprisingly dull.
Not enough happens to make it a compelling film.
Frankly, it struggles to find any real traction, beyond the fact that it showcases a pair of mismatched cousins and few sights and sounds of Poland and its war-torn past.
I was constantly looking at my watch, which is hardly a good sign.
Kieran Culkin is clearly the star of the show with his embracing, manic representation of Benji.
Eisenberg – who also wrote and directed the film – plays along respectfully as second fiddle, picking up the pieces when necessary.
Around them are four other “travellers” whose character development – especially the older couple – is somewhat patchy.
The most interesting of those is African-born Jewish convert Elonge (Kurt Egyiawan), who embraces goodwill and his newfound religion.
As the Oxford history scholar guide, Will Sharpe comes across as a decent guy trying to make the most of his group’s Polish experience.
Musically, the movie leans heavily on a strong classical piano score, which I felt was overplayed on occasions.
As much as I wanted to like A Real Pain, I thought it needed more levers to pull (more script development) and I found it underwhelming.
It is playing as part of the Jewish International Film Festival and scores a 6 out of 10.
For more information about JIFF and to buy tickets, go to https://www.jiff.com.au
