[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up]
I grew up as an only child. Every summer I got to see my cousins who, after finally getting closer to them once they moved from Louisiana to Kansas, became like siblings to me. Cousins, they say, are your first friend. The two Kaplan cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) are in for a trip of a lifetime in Eisenberg’s second feature A Real Pain.
David is a family man. Reserved in every way and constantly on his phone and not in the moment, is a wild contrast to his cousin Benji. Benji is a free spirit and the life of the party. The two travel together to Poland to visit the childhood home of their recently deceased grandmother. She left them money in order for them to travel back to where their family started. Both men are Jewish, so this trip that culminates with a trip to a concentration camp has much meaning and reflection on the two.
While both men are very aware of where they are in the world and the horrors that occurred there, it is Benji who is more upset with how the entire trip is posh, versus the history all around them that negatively impacted millions of others. Other tour group members James (Will Sharpe), Marcia (Jennifer Grey), Diane (Liza Sadovy), Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan) have the same reaction as Benji, but like David don’t outwardly show it. David and Benji’s relationship is ever at odds on this trip as they reflect on who they are as people, and why their connection was lost somewhere in their shared past.
I really liked A Real Pain. Like I said, that cousin connection hits really close to home. Especially when your cousin is within the same age as you, like David and Benji and wants to know more about their ancestors before them, this one hit really hard! The subtle nuances that Eisenberg (who also wrote the screenplay) gives to himself are sublime. I loved how vulnerable he became, especially in the dinner scene which has David going through group therapy while eating. Culkin is all over the place with Benji, giving him character depth and so many emotions of what this trip means to the two, but especially Benji, who spent so much time with their grandmother.
I reflect back on what that title, A Real Pain even means. Does it mean the person I’m with is a pain or is it a reflection of the pain shared family history has on generations that survived some of the most horrific events in history. Whatever the case, this film is a terrific character study in family bonds and traveling to find some sort of peace.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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