Time: 90 Minutes
Age Rating: R13– Drug use & offensive language
Cast:
Jesse Eisenberg as David Kaplan
Kieran Culkin as Benjamin “Benji” Kaplan
Will Sharpe as James
Jennifer Grey as Marcia
Kurt Egyiawan as Eloge
Liza Sadovy as Diane
Daniel Oreskes as Mark
Director: Jesse Eisenberg

I had heard about A Real Pain, mainly for the fact that it would star Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin (and directed by Eisenberg) and that it was getting some awards attention. Having watched it, it definitely deserved all the attention.

A Real Pain is an introspective character driven movie about grief and generational pain, sincere in its exploration of sadness, and really benefiting from Jesse Eisenberg’s fantastic writing. Tonally, it is well handled; hard hitting, heartwarming and moving while having decently placed moments of humour, mainly with the interactions between the two leads. One minor issue for me was that the way that things wrapped up towards the end felt a little too abrupt.

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin deliver some of their best performances here. They convey a believable dynamic with contrasting personalities, and they play off each other really well. Culkin is particularly amazing, he felt very real and hit every single moment.

The direction from Jesse Eisenberg is very solid, simplistic yet very effective. It’s greatly shot, and the Polish imagery and locations are really good and well captured.

A Real Pain is a touching, charming and heartwarming dramedy, well directed, greatly written, and with incredible performances from Jessie Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin.