David Kaplan, a disciplined family man, and his cousin Benji, a clumsy slob, take a flight from New York City to Warsaw, to visit Poland, the country of origin of their late Jewish grandmother. They join a group of several other Jews, led by a British tour guide, but David thinks Benji is acting inappropriate, since the latter also smokes marijuana. The group travels to Lublin, where they visit the remnants of the former Majdanek concentration camp run by the Nazis. David and Benji also visit the old house of their grandmother, now occupied by someone else, and then return back to New York City.
The 2nd feature length directorial work by actor Jesse Eisenberg, "A Real Pain" is a surprisingly funny, emotional and clever road movie, with a neat set-up of the two protagonists taking a trip to Poland to visit their Jewish roots. The viewers accompany them on this journey, and the disparate interactions between the opposite personalities of David and Benji manage to be both entertaining and educational at times. Kieran Culkin as Benji isn't consistently interesting, though: his character is sometimes charming, sometimes annoying. The most stand-out moment is the excellent one in the middle of the film, when the group sits at a table in a tavern, and Benji leaves, which is followed by David looking directly into the camera and giving a fantastic, virtuoso written monologue ("I just wanna ask him, and I just can't. Like... like, how did the product of a thousand miracles overdose on a bottle of sleeping pills?") that changes everything, so much that the viewers suddenly understand Benji's background and view him henceforth in a different perspective. This is followed by a sound of music, and David turns around to see Benji playing the piano in the background, showing what kind of a contradictory person he is—both broken, full of problems and self-doubt, and yet also charming, unpredictable and talented at the same time. Another funny moment is when Benji makes ridiculous poses in front of a monument to World War II soldiers—but to David's shock, other tourists join him in making equally as silly poses. Unfortunately, there is not a single important Polish character, which is a pity, since it would have been good for the group to connect to the locals and ask about their lives. A major problem is that the movie lacks a conclusion. After Benji was acting is such a tormented way, the movie had an opportunity to give him a sort of catharsis after they all visit the remnants of the concentration camp in Lublin, something that would calm him or help him open up about his problems, but it doesn't happen. Likewise, the ending feels incomplete and wasted, as clearly the one found in the similar road movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" would have been potentially more satisfying.
Grade:++
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