Snack Bar Films

A Real Pain

Scroll for Snack Bar menu!

Story

After their grandmother dies, cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite on a Jewish Heritage tour of Poland in her honour. While on the tour, they work through their relationship, their grief, and learn about their family’s history.

My Thoughts

2024 was huge for film; back-to-back releases of ever-hyped-up movies made endless additions to my To Watch list. One of them was A Real Pain, written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. However, it was definitely not worth the hype.

Let me start by saying that, yes, it does have some good qualities … like the 90-minute run time. I don’t think I would have made it any longer had it been over this. But it did have beautiful photography and some heartfelt moments that made me smile. The plot was interesting, and I could see the good story at its core.

And … that’s where my praise stops.

My main issue is with character development. Benji starts out as a character that we want to like, instantly making a connection with the TSA agent in the 30 seconds he stood there, becoming friendly with the other tourists on the group, making sure everyone was doing ok – in particular Marcia, the divorcée on the trip alone. He is instantly the type of character that makes you go, “Man, I wish I was more like him and less like awkward David.” His character then takes a sharp nosedive after their group picture at the statue.

His outburst on the train was the first moment I realized that his character really doesn’t care that much about the people around him. Don’t get me wrong, his thoughts on their current place made sense, and if I was there, thinking about what the tour was really about, I’m sure I’d feel funny about the scenario. However, his yelling back and forth over who was right about how they were feeling – and also his sudden embarrassing jab at David for feeling homesick – showed that it didn’t matter that he was making everyone uncomfortable and hurting their trip – which, remember, it was their trip, too. I really knew that his quirky nice-ness was a façade when they were at the cemetery.

His outburst there completely took me off guard. To paint the picture: the group is walking around a wooded, incredibly old cemetery. The group has broken off into smaller groups looking at different headstones, and the tour guide, James, is talking with Eloge, the Rwandan refugee, about the headstone they are looking at. That’s when Benji decides that this is the perfect time to yell at James for not treating the dead like people (??) and that he’s only taking them to touristy areas, and that he should take the advice he’s giving him. First, they are tourists. Second, this trip was not thrown just for him. Third, where did that even come from? His total lack of understanding that not everything is about or for him is totally shown here, because why on earth would someone go out of their way to complain about being taught things on a tour? I also absolutely hated the fact that when James then suggested putting a rock on the headstone and gave Benji credit for the idea, he then took it in stride when the others chimed in saying “good thinking, Benji.”

The restaurant scene totally did me in, and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to continue watching. I hate to sound so silly, but the picture painted by the trailers and everything that talked about the film last year made it seem that Benji was going to be a guy we envy and want to be through the whole thing, not just in the first act. His childish behavior of interrupting the group and being a jerk about almost everything, slamming things around and just being ridiculously rude, showed a completely different character than what the beginning had shown. Now, yes, I know that’s how character progression and development work, but this made no sense. I’m not going to envy someone that is a jerk, and I really don’t think David would either. Which, then que his emotional monologue about how he wants to be him and hates him and blah, blah, blah. Had I been sitting at the table, I don’t think I would have shown as much care as the group did, as terrible as that sounds. In real life, the group would not have pitied him, that’s how people work – he shat on the whole tour and now we get the sob story? Whatever.

Throughout the film, I couldn’t help but think that Benji was really just an asshole disguised as the cool, carefree guy. It also didn’t make sense to me that the accomplished, settled cousin would envy the stoner living on his mom’s couch – no matter how much more the grandmother liked him. It seemed as though the awkward David saw Benji peak in high school, being a stoner with his brash “honesty,” and kept that image in his mind, never coming to terms with the fact that Benji is not someone worth envying. He wasn’t cool because he wore the same thing throughout the trip or that his phone couldn’t play music, he was unsettlingly type-B. I also really doubt that everyone on the tour would then go, “OMG we love you Benji! You’re an amazing, cool person!” Kudos to the tour guide for taking Benji’s outburst in stride, especially when Benji decided that he didn’t even remember that he yelled at him the day prior. His vulgarity was another issue I had; using swear words in every. single. sentence does not add to the “cool guy” personality. It really doesn’t. It makes the character look silly. Especially around a bunch of older adults, they would not have laughed at his constant swearing, they would have been appalled.

One thing I just could not wrap my head around was really just David’s jealousy of this guy, especially when David even says, “You light up a room and then shit on it.” His saying this, and understanding how he is feeling, would make his jealousy irrelevant since it isn’t charm that Benji has, then.

To end with a softer note, I did think the film was an interesting show of family dynamics and interaction. The backdrop of the Jewish side of Poland was a beautiful, yet tragic setting for an interesting plot that wanted to be beautiful and tragic – at least, that’s how many reviews I’ve read describe the story. Overall, I’m not sure I’d recommend this one, but can now cross it off my To Watch list.

On the Snack Bar Menu