Review by Robbie Fleming
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Studio: Searchlight Pictures
Jesse Eisenberg has been mainly working in independent cinema in the last few years, following his criticised performance as Lex Luthor in the DCEU. He also directed a film for the first time back in 2022. Now, he returns to the director’s chair with A Real Pain, a film he also wrote and starred in alongside Succession’s Kieran Culkin.
In A Real Pain, Eisenberg and Culkin play two mismatched American Jewish cousins who embark on a vacation to Poland to honor their late grandmother. The film has been widely acclaimed for Eisenberg's direction and screenplay, Culkin's performance, and its emotional weight. For his role as Benji Kaplan, Culkin won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and is expected to sweep the awards season with more wins for his performance.
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After seeing him in Succession, Kieran Culkin has become another new favorite actor of mine, and when I heard about this film, I wanted to see how he would perform alongside Jesse Eisenberg. They seemed like a good duo on paper, so I wanted to see if their chemistry was as good as I hoped. Here are my thoughts on A Real Pain.
I consider this film Jesse Eisenberg’s comeback to high-quality cinema. His writing is excellent here, with sharp dialogue, comedic moments, and a compelling narrative about the dynamic between these two cousins. It reminds me of a Noah Baumbach film at times because of how grounded and raw it feels.
I really like the two main characters as they are both real, relatable, and interesting. The dynamic between these two cousins offers a great spin on the classic straight man and comic pairing. These two characters are brought to life perfectly through the performances of Eisenberg, who plays the uptight straight man David, and Culkin, who plays the carefree comic Benji.
Jesse Eisenberg delivers his best performance as David, a role he clearly wrote to play to his strengths as a straight man. Kieran Culkin is fantastic and plays off Eisenberg perfectly as his foil. The two actors bounce off each other so naturally that their performances are equally impactful.
Some might argue that Kieran Culkin should be getting nominations in the Lead category rather than Supporting. While I won’t disagree with that argument, I see this as Jesse’s film, given that he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in it. Kieran’s role feels more like a supporting one, so I think his Supporting nominations are valid here.
Visually, Jesse Eisenberg demonstrates strong direction for his second feature. Although I haven’t seen his first film yet, judging by this, he shows real promise as a director. The film includes some great shots, and I appreciate how they filmed everything on location in Poland, capturing the country’s beauty.
Since this film is more driven by characters and performances, I wasn’t focusing much on the visuals. However, Eisenberg’s ability to draw out a great performance and write such a strong character for Kieran Culkin solidifies him as an emerging director and screenwriter. I hope he continues delivering sharp and witty films.
Overall, I loved A Real Pain thanks to its writing, direction, cinematography, and standout performances from Eisenberg and Culkin, whose chemistry is the grand highlight. This is certainly one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time, and it’s one I’m placing in my top 10 of 2024.
Now that I know A Real Pain is a hit, I’m hoping Nicholas Hoult kills it with his turn as Lex Luthor, succeeding Eisenberg, showing that everything worked out in the end.
I give A Real Pain a rating of 5/5 and 10 out of 10. If you’re looking for something fresh with a classic straight man and comic duo, then A Real Pain is worth checking out.
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