A Real Pain (2024) Dir: Jesse Eisenberg

Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DLh3fYwtw4C/?igsh=a3ZxNjBhZmY2Yjd4

Holocaust, or Holocaust adjacent, films can be heavy and harrowing watches, and with good reason. This unusually contemporary Holocaust film, written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, who also starred in the project, looked to take a lighter approach. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Original Screenplay, and one for Best Supporting Actor, the latter of which was won by Kieran Culkin. As such, my expectations were fairly optimistic - I wasn't sure quite how much to expect of it, but I hoped I'd like it, at the very least.

The film boasted a wonderful almost entirely classical soundtrack, which really suited it, both thematically and aesthetically. It worked not only for the more powerful, emotive scenes, such as one can expect from a post-Holocaust introspective story, but also for the lighter, cheekier comedy scenes. The only song that didn't really fit was the only one that wasn't a piece of classical music.

I expected the awkward and dry comedy, for which both main actors are renowned, but, boy oh boy, it was a lot. Some of it truly was very amusing - I certainly found plenty of moments to laugh at, but it wasn't without issue. I felt like some of these awkward comedy skits undermined the rest of the film. Nearly every time the film verged on a truly powerful moment, it was undercut by awkward and uncomfortable humour.

The narrative was pretty poignant in its modern interpretation of not only the horrors suffered by the Jewish community, among others, during the tyrannical occupation of Poland in the thirties and fourties, but of mental health, friendships, and family as well. The road-trip nature of it gave plenty of room for emotional ebs and flows, most of which I enjoyed, with the exception of those few times the comedy slightly overstepped.

Jesse Eisenberg has always been known for his awkward and seemingly uncomfortable characters, some of which have worked, and some very much have not. On this occasion, I very much thought that it did. Of course, it would no doubt have helped that he wrote the role for himself, but, even so, it was a very strong and consistent performance.

Kieran Culkin was a little bit more of a mixed bag for me. It's not that his acting itself had issues, I just think the character irritated me a little. I understand that was kind of the point, but it definitely affected my enjoyment of the film a bit. Either way, Culkin's actual acting was really quite good - you could tell that the role was written for him, much like with Eisenberg. Would I have given him an Oscar for the performance? I don't think so, but it was still a commendable effort.

I do also want to give some quick mentions to a couple of the supporting cast members, because I really enjoyed some of their performances, despite their relative lack of screentime. Those actors of note were Will Sharpe, Michelle Grey, and, in particular, Kurt Egyiawan, who I found to be extremely endearing.

Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable, if not exceptional film. Elements of the film were extremely good, but it never quite had me in its grasp the way other films have. I did like it, I won't pretend otherwise, but I'm not sure it was quite as good as I was hoping it would be. It threatened to be better, but couldn't quite get there, at least as far as I was concerned.