A Real Pain

Official Australian release date: 26/12/24. Viewed: 29/12/24.
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Rating: MA

‘A Real Pain’ is Eisenberg’s second directorial effort, and while not perfect, it’s quite assured. The plot is simple – cousin’s David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Culkin) go on a guided tour of Poland, led by James (Sharpe) to trace their Jewish roots, especially of their grandma. Good to see majority of the film actually filmed on location in Poland.

It’s a mix of drama, Holocaust history and buddy road trip comedy, so can sometimes be a little jarring. There’s definitely some laughs, but at other times it leans heavily on what’s happened to the Jewish people in Poland over the past 100 years, which makes things more sombre. The scene at the concentration camp at Majdanek is quite poignant.

Sometimes it looks like an advert for Polish tourism, with a similar vibe to ‘The Trip’. But most of the drama and comedy comes from Eisenberg and Culkin interacting with each other and the tour group, with Culkin being the “pain”, as in slightly arrogant and annoying, but then slowly revealed to be also suffering a bit of emotional pain. Both lead actors are good. Ending is nice, but nothing special.

Overall: Solid assured dramedy

Gav's Rating: 3 stars