Searchlight Pictures’ latest movie is “A Real Pain,” written, directed, and starring Jesse Eisenberg. It tells the story of two mismatched cousins, David and Benji, who go on a historic group tour of Poland to honour their late grandmother. Their holiday becomes complicated as old tensions resurface while they explore their family history.

Kieran Culkin shines in this role and steals every scene he is in. His character is the life of the party, but he is deeply troubled, and we see him struggling throughout the story. I also don’t understand how Kieran can be considered a supporting actor during the awards season for this film since he’s the main character and much more interesting than Jesse Eisenberg’s anxious and quiet character, who is rather dull. Neither of the characters develops in any way throughout the film. 

One of the interesting topics in this film is how the characters struggle with visiting a concentration camp. We see how they try to come to terms with visiting such an iconic location that has so much history but also still impacts families today.

The synopsis says that this is an adventure, but it’s more of a touring holiday for older adults. The most exciting part of the movie is when they run for a train, which highlights a bit of “false advertising”. 

It does a fantastic job of making Poland look beautiful and worthy of doing your own tour. I’d probably want to go with a different tour guide.  As someone who has done many tours around the world over the years, so many aspects of this film irritated me, that it became a little bit distracting.

And that’s not the only bit of confusion, as the film is listed as a comedy. But if you’re coming into this film looking for some laughs, you’ll be disappointed. While I had a couple of chuckles, it was more of a serious drama that tried to deal with many different topics, including suicide, families drifting apart, and the after-effects of World War 2.  

Coming in at barely 90 minutes, I’m glad they kept it short. There’s not much here to keep you entertained, and it just feels a little pointless. I have no doubt that this movie will hit very differently for Jewish viewers on many levels.

Overall: The idea of a story about two cousins in their 30s travelling across Poland, visiting important historical locations with a tour group might not sound that interesting, but “A Real Pain” might click with you, or you might find it rather dull and want it to get be over with.  I kinda slide somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed some aspects of the film, but it never seemed to get going and didn’t really have an ending that felt like anything had been resolved. It’s a very down-to-earth, low-budget drama that will certainly be worth checking out when it eventually hits Hulu and Disney+, but I wouldn’t recommend buying it.

Rating – 3 Out Of 5.

“A Real Pain” is out now on digital retailers including Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.

Have you checked out “A Real Pain”?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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