A Real Pain Review

I was very surprised that we got this movie. We had the poster for a while but there was no trailer and the poster just disappeared. So I assumed it missed us. But here it is... I have no idea what I'm doing with this opening, let's just get into this.

What The Movie's About?

David and Benji are two cousins who join a Holocaust tour in Poland with plans to split off and see the house where their Grandmother lived. 

What I Like.

I found this movie to be very interesting. It doesn't exactly follow a traditional structure, and by that I mean the plot is a lot of stuff kinda just happening. But even deeper than that, because stuff does happen in the movie, but almost all of it gets resolved in the same or immediate next scene. But there's a very underlying plot that threads everything together, and honestly, I didn't even realize what is was until a very dramatic and really fucking well acted scene from Eisenberg about his character's relationship with his cousin that shook me into awareness of what was going on. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that this movie was based on real events. The cousins are interesting characters, and their depth makes you switch perceptions about who they are through the movie. From the outset you think Benji is the character who is more socially aware and maybe has his shit together even if others can't tell, and David is a nervous wreck, but it's actually more of the opposite. The tour group they are with are pretty interesting and have hidden depths as well, even if they aren't the focus of the movie. I really liked the part where the tour guide talks to Benji after he flipped out on him, telling Benji that he had really salient points and it was the first time he got an actionable criticism on his tour. This movie is basically a character study, but about multiple people in very small ways. And it's not condescending about it either, there is one guy on the tour who just kinda a dick. All the acting all around is pretty good, as is the directing. Honestly, for most of the movie, the shots are serviceable. But I like how pretty they make more dilapidated parts of the tour are. And the section where they tour a concentration camp is beautifully shot and framed, I was agog. And like any good moments, I cried at several points. The comedy is on point, it's a lot of awkward delivery and not knowing when to do what with certain social cues but it was weirdly working for me? Also, the ending shot was weirdly powerful. 

What I Don't Like.

Nothing... I mean sometimes Benji's outbursts are a bit too awkward for me but that's the point. Unlike most movies where I have nothing to complain about I feel like I should I have something to say here since this was a movie where I had an earbud in listening to my Christmas Playlist. (Sacrilegious, I know.)

Final Summation.

So this movie was the directing debut of Jesse Eisenberg, but even if I didn't know that I think I would have guessed that this was a first time directors artsy movie. This movie feels like a story the writer really wanted to tell, but as one of those movies, it's only okay. A little in one ear and out the other, at least for these kinds of award-bait films. But it's stupid to hold movies like this to a higher standard than all others, just because they think themselves higher or whatever. I mean, fuck, The Front Room falls into the artsy movie category, and that movie is dogshit. A Real Pain is good and you should check it out if you are interested.