Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg are excellent as cousins in this comedy signed and directed by Jesse Eisenberg.
Revealed by the quality of his interpretation of Mark Zuckerberg in The social networkJesse Eisenberg specializes in verbose, socially awkward characters with caustic humor. Kieran Culkin, revealed by the quality of his interpretation of Roman Roy in the TV series Succession specializes in offbeat characters whose outspokenness can easily pass for nastiness or perversity. The meeting of these two actors therefore has something particularly attractive, especially in the context of the scenario of A real pain (note that the title of the original version, A Real Paincan apply as much to things as to people, a very deliberate ambiguity of language).
David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) are cousins and Jewish. Their shared grandmother, now dead, fled her native Poland due to the arrival of Hitler’s Nazis. To pay tribute to him, the two cousins decided to take part in a tour of Poland, intended for Jewish clients wishing to better understand their family history.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FOX SEARCHLIGHT
So here they are at the airport, the opening scene serving to place David on the verge of mental health disorder, his constant worry also being a good comic engine. Benji, under his I-don’t-care exterior, can easily pass for a manipulative profiteer, his passive-aggressive words being, here too, an excellent comic spring. The two cousins quickly return to their childhood habits; we will learn that they practically grew up together. And their journey will not lack extremely funny… and tragic moments.
And A real pain ends abruptly, a bit as if Jesse Eisenberg didn’t know how to conclude, this feature film nevertheless won the Grand Audience Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. And with good reason, the two protagonists are endearing, despite their obvious flaws. In addition, the two actors confirm their talent in a striking manner (Kieran Culkin deserves a special mention), their spontaneous acting winning the support of the spectators from the first minutes of this film which turns out to be a real pleasure.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
A real pain makes moviegoers laugh from November 15
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