A Real Pain

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in “A Real Pain.” © 2024 SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES photo and trailer via IMDb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21823606/?ref_=ext_shr_em 

“A Real Pain” is a real pleasure.

It's brilliantly and touchingly written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, who also stars. Its four Golden Globe nominations include best comedy, along with acting and writing nods to Eisenberg and another acting nomination for Kieran Culkan. He's in the supporting category, but really is the star of the show.

Just because it's a comedy, don't expect many belly laughs.

Holocaust tourism isn't exactly a rich vein of comedy material.

Instead it's an almost surreal concept … it would be theater of the absurd, if its reality weren't so g*d-damned awful.

But filmmaker Eisenberg comes at the subject with such a genuine aching, such a probing curiosity and such emotional honesty, that a rich deep dive into human goodness fills the screen.

And if it doesn't make you laugh, it will leave you smiling. Heartwarming, I think it's called.

Jessie and Kieran play odd-couple cousins David and Benji Kaplan. David, of course, is the OCD one. He's got a family, a son he adores, a job selling banner advertising on the internet.

Benji, in contrast, is the bearded, semi-slob, a little too old to still be wondering what he's going to be when he grows up. 

They're brought together by a small inheritance from their beloved grandmother Dory, a Holocaust survivor. The money came with a wish that the boys make a trip to Poland, to visit her home before she was taken to the camp.

Which is how they find themselves part of what Benji calls their geriatric tour group with a weeklong Polish itinerary. Benji's not real good at filters or boundaries. That's where the film's title comes from. Partly.

Led by English tour guide James (Will Sharp), who's not Jewish, it's an eclectic group. Avoiding easy-target stereotypes, they include one actress who will not be named here, so as not to spoil the audience's fun rediscovering her. 

David and Benji are definitely the boys in this context. Much of the film's humor stems from their habit of oversleeping, and their challenges finding places to smoke a joint. The action takes place in a variety of plains, trains and automobiles, not to mention a lot of Polish hotels and tourist destinations.

If “The Brutalist” – another heavy contender in the Golden Globes race – is an epic vision of Jewish immigrants' arrival in America, “A Real Pain” is a more modest look at the same theme two generations later. Traveling first-class through settings of unbearable pain and tragedy for their ancestors is a subject for contemplation. In a way, the group is still wondering where they belong.

Benji, in his blurt-it-out way, is their conscience. And, wearing his faults on his sleeve, he is the most lovable and alive member of the group.

Eisenberg sets a more challenging and thankless task for himself, exploring all the ways his character and Benji are opposites. As with his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network” his David here is more complicated than likable. It's to his credit as an artist, and thoughtful human being, that he's the guy writing the script and directing the action.

Speaking of surprises in the credits, among “A Real Pain's” producers is Emma Stone. It's a reminder that she and Eiseberg first worked together in 2009's destined-to-be-a-classic “Zombieland.” Everyone went into the theater to see Woody Harrelson and came out checking the credits for Jesse and Emma's names. 

It's heartening to see her support – and, one suspects, affection – are still there. Along with her good taste and filmmaking judgment.

It's a joy to join her going along for the ride on Eisenberg's exhilarating and ultimately painless trip.