The film “A Real Pain” follows two somewhat estranged Jewish cousins ​​as they travel across Poland to honor the memory of their grandmother and confront the legacy of the Holocaust. Despite the heavy premise, the film is a comedy that exploits the tension between contemporary life and this horrific history. Jesse Eisenberg takes on the roles of writer, director, producer and actor, with Kieran Culkin joining him in the lead role. Although the film has a strong concept and delivers some genuinely moving and funny moments, “A Real Pain” is weighed down by the off-putting charm it attempts to impose on its protagonist.

The film largely focuses on the tension between the two cousins ​​David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin). David, now a father and Internet ad salesman, is anxious and takes medication for his OCD; on the other hand, he is much more united in appearance than Benji, a character who still lives in his mother’s cellar. Benji has a cheerful face and dazzles the audience with his charisma, while David is shy and awkward – which makes him resent Benji. However, the film’s psychological focus is on Benji’s late – or non-existent – ​​development into a responsible adult.

The two join a group of four other Jewish characters and visit sights in Poland with their kindly but perhaps naive non-Jewish tour guide, James (Will Sharpe). This is where the antics begin. On the first day, the group visits a historic World War II site with statues of Polish soldiers, and Benji asks David to take a photo of him posing with them. David thinks this is disrespectful, but Benji soon asks everyone in the group to pose with him, each person playing the role of a different type of army member. A Chopin piece plays in the background of the scene, growing louder and wilder as the re-enactment becomes more excessive – it’s meant to make it appear as if the characters are dancing. It was the first moment where things didn’t go well. Benji’s behavior draws attention to himself rather than the monument. The tour group left this monument thinking Benji was cool, not that the monument had any meaning.

However, maybe a little fun is warranted on emotional journeys like this, right? The next explosion occurs while the group is on a train heading to the next site. Benji acts like a different person – he seethes with contempt for the group and lashes out. He wonders how they can all feel so comfortable in first class on a train in Poland, considering what happened to their not-so-distant ancestors. Benji may be right, but his attitude is truly off-putting. He takes his discomfort as permission to attack others and victimize himself. In reality, as he points out, the victims were their ancestors. His argument is also in direct contradiction to what he made earlier; by posing with the statues, he trivialized this monument, but now he is angry with others for having trivialized this experience.

Throughout the film, Benji makes points that carry some weight, but his tone is always manipulative and self-pitying. Even when he’s calm, his friendliness has a false tone – it seems like he’s putting on a facade to think he’s a deeply sensitive and empathetic human being. The film relies on the audience to be fascinated by Benji’s character. If viewers are, they’ll appreciate the work, but if they aren’t, the film doesn’t offer much else. David is still more likable than Benji but less interesting. And the other characters, although they sometimes have their moments, are the background and foreground of David and Benji’s relationship.

Even the subject of the Holocaust feels more like an afterthought than a central element of the film. The moment where the story receives the most attention is when the group visits a concentration camp, but the choice to make this sequence silent, probably out of respect, seemed more indulgent and pretentious than tasteful. The only scene that allows us to understand the complex tension between our times’ perspective and the Holocaust is the long dinner scene with the entire tour group. It’s probably the best scene in the film and one of the few that truly confronts the terror of the story while simultaneously revealing buried secrets about the film’s main characters. At the same time, this scene is marred by melodrama; David’s monologue reveals a lot, but the dialogue is a little too close to a soap opera.

Overall, “A Real Pain” is well put together. The film has a good structure, with the ending and beginning tied together in a satisfying way. The score is composed almost entirely of Chopin pieces, which gives the film some lovely music – although this is hardly an achievement on the film’s part, given that all of the music has been around for centuries. The cinematographic choices are sometimes quite striking, notably the wide shots; there are several shots of cars driving through the countryside which are particularly beautiful. “A Real Pain” also contains some undeniably funny jokes here and there, but perhaps not enough to warrant calling the work a comedy.

The film also captures many personality types – everyone probably knows people like Benji, or maybe has been in his condition. But it’s the film’s view of these types of people that doesn’t fit. Many characters, including David, express deep concern and annoyance at his behavior. At the same time, the film exalts it. He aligns with his charisma and attempts to present his beautiful humanity.

“A Real Pain” has its ideas, its funny moments and its compelling direction, but the film chooses to sideline its most promising elements to focus on one character – and that character isn’t compelling enough to justify that decision. .