Kieran Culkin, right, and Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain.The Associated Press
- A Real Pain
- Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg
- Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin
- Classification 14A; 90 minutes
- Opens in theatres Nov. 15
Like Sideways meets a bummed-out Superbad 10 years later on a road trip through Poland, A Real Pain is the story of family, friendship and aging. It’s funny, sad and beautifully acted, and, like the best indie fare, it offers no pat conclusions. The story of two estranged cousins, David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), reuniting after the loss of a loved one offers a delicate tension that makes you wince, laugh and ultimately tear up. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a friend of Eisenberg for years.)
In the movie, Culkin goes for broke in his first post-Succession performance playing an all-heart, manic attention hog, and his crackling line readings are interesting in every scene. There’s Oscar buzz for the film, and you can feel it in the specificity of the writing; each awkward interaction feels like something that could happen in your own life.
While at first the actors appear to be playing types – Eisenberg as someone so self-conscious that he apologizes instead of saying hello and Culkin threatening, always, to go off the rails – their idiosyncrasies deepen as the movie progresses and both Benji and David are afforded laughs, losses and hard-earned wins.
Equal parts cringe comedy, early mid-life search for meaning and a journey of Jews reckoning with privilege and the past, the film feels vibrant, raw and relatable while the great supporting cast (including Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan as a Rwandan refugee who discovered Judaism in Winnipeg, and Will Sharpe from The White Lotus) lend depth in their roles.
A Real Pain is fast-paced, vivid and enhanced by a sound design featuring works by Chopin, whose house Eisenberg visited on a trip to Poland that inspired his film. The film has pain in its title. But it’s pleasure the viewer will feel once the credits roll at the end.
In the interest of consistency across all critics’ reviews, The Globe has eliminated its star-rating system in film and theatre to align with coverage of music, books, visual arts and dance. Instead, works of excellence will be noted with a critic’s pick designation across all coverage. (Television reviews, typically based on an incomplete season, are exempt.)