Recently been sharing more movies with my wife, she is the type who likes all romance and full of feeling movies, so A Real Pain fits perfectly for her likes. The movie for me was more like a comedy as I'm not that sensible to the bonding scenes that happen constantly, the love and hate relationship that made my wife drop a few tears, not really me but I do get the message, got to recognize its a great movie when it comes to drama and comedy, we both ended satisfied considering there might be part of the audience that end up confused since the main two characters were a big contrast of personality. The movie is directed by Jesse Eisenberg himself, mostly I allways remember him from The Social Network and Justice League. The movie develops in Poland with two mismatched cousins, two wildly different person, the perfect mix for chaos and disaster as their past starts to emerge including all their differences on a tour through Poland in the memory of their grandmother, its here where Benji; role played by Kieran Culkin, becomes the center of attention leaving on his shadow his cousin David Kaplan; role played by Jesse Eisenberg, until feelings start to explode like a volcano and they start to bond.
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The most wild thing about this hole movie is that its a drama / comedy setup in the middle of a Holocaust tour, how about that!!! somehow they go through this entire movie tip toeing around the Holocaust topic without falling into a heavy critic about it as the movie has this perfect balance of blending its dark humor with some serious themes, one minute my wife was laughing with me and the other she was all serious cleaning up some of her tears and even laugh at the same time.
After their grandmother's death, David and Benji became more curious about their family history and thought would be a good idea to visit where she lived before WWII. David character fits so well for Jesse, as always this man has a talent to been weird and awkward, the typical anxious guy, married now with kids who can't wait to get back home always thinking about what is or may happen while he is not around. Benji on the other side it a total different type of person, still living with his mom and he is always the center for conversation.
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They join a tour group lead by James; played by Will Sharpe. On this tour group there is a solid support cast including actors like Kurt Egyiawan, Ellora Torchia, Jennifer Grey. They also all play different characters with their own problems and the tour is serving as a method to try to make changes in their life. Through this time we watch each person process their pain in different ways, wich is really what the movie is all about. On each stop that they make it shows how far apart they are; David and Benji, but one after another start to bring them closer at the same time, its basic social life, spend time with others.
There is no doubt that Kieran stole the show and owns this movie, I doubt Jesse might be mad about it as he is the director too, besides I'm sure its meant to be that way. As the movie develops its that same chaotic energy that start showing Benji emotions and feelings, making him feel real and even relatable to some people. Eisenberg is more of the safe play for the movie that just works because it perfectly balance Benji.
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The fulfillment end comes from the fact that it all goes back into full circle as it reboots to the airport where it all began, but they are now closer than ever, still with their differences but better than before having process a lot of the things they wouldn't share with each other during their tour. Benji himself seems different once hey are back, always trying to connect with others on his way but this time look like he is more interested in others than himself, been the center of attention was always a self satisfaction thing than bringing joy and sharing with others. David on the other hand besides been closer to Benji didn't seem to change that much, he is going back to his structured regular life with his family and digital marketing job, while Benji remains in this state of emotional limbo, but the point is that they do reconcile after all. The movie was for the most part very predictable as how things going to end between them, nothing ground breaking or jaw dropping moment, it was all about sharing, overcoming and laughing while going to the process of grief and reconciliation between each other. The ending feels particularly honest because it doesn't try to solve completely Benji's problems but uplift him and letting other see through the cracks of his problems, after all it wouldn't be that easy to turn your life around in a few days, it basically made a bridge between him and his cousin leaving you with probably a deeper appreciation for Benji.
For me comedy and drama movies are the most hard to write a review about, you cant review jokes and peoples feeling without falling into repetition and going into telling the entire story, I try to describe more characters beginning and ending. A Real Pain (2024) is the perfect story about that same concept, how it all start and how it ends going back to the same location, most important for me is that the movie never turn boring considering the support cast was also part of the same plot and similar situation. I truly enjoy the movie and my wife did too, a movie I would totally recommend and give it a solid 6.5/10, yeah it sounds low but it really isn't, may be I'm giving this rating mainly because of how I felt this was a one time watch that I would probably wont watch ever again but still archive it to eventually revive the experience of watching it with my wife since we both enjoy it.
