A Real Pain

Made me laugh more than just about anything I’ve watched this year, but on a couple occasions, this cut straight to my core. A beautifully observed ultra-specific twin character study with two sterling lead performances. I was completely taken with this.

Sneakily effective. Starts off fairly predictable in a Sundance kind of way but gets thornier and more complex as it goes: it's almost impossible to help some people, and some pain takes permanent root no matter how many life lessons you think you take from it. I'm a sucker for believable family dynamics and it's very easy to see myself and my loved ones in these guys, and Culkin and Eisenberg are marvellous in roles perfectly suited to their strengths.

Lots of pain here, in envy and insecurity, abrasive honesty and social awkwardness, in journeys through grief, mental illness, and the past. No easy answers or cheap happy endings with any of it, but a hug helps. Lovely natural construction stays clear of cliche cinematic peaks in the drama (see the awkward end to their attempted symbolic gesture at Grandma’s old house) and avoids creating caricatures out of the early comedy by adding lots of character nuances. Wonderful turns and piano score.

The script is flawless and every performer absolutely inhabits their role. Every word and character is given powerful nuance and the film is just so damn thoughtful. Mental illness has rarely been as funny, irritating, complex, and human on screen as it is here, brought to life in its every layer by the central powerhouse duo. And the film-craft is strong, too! Perfectly chosen Chopin, excellent cinematography (shadows on the wall, walking above the mural), great editing (90 minutes)! Superb.

This movie is almost exactly what you expect it’s gonna be, but Culkin’s unbelievable performance causes it to come achingly close to elevating that.

Definitely one of the better movies of the year.

Manic pixie dream cousin

I enjoyed A Real Pain well enough, but it's not really the Baumbach level Dramedy I was hoping for. Kirean Culkin gives a phenomenal performance, and his and Eisenberg's characters are very well written. It's just the movie feel a tad slight and hollow. I think that comes down mostly to the tour group being undercast and underwritten. Also while I did like the use of Chopin for the score at first it does get a little repetitive towards the end.

Culkin shines.

Funny, oddly touching, and has two leads that play off of each other so well. I'm glad I saw it in theaters.

The film didn't work for me. The conversations - although likely accurate of everyday life - didn't go anywhere. It ended ambiguously, which is usually OK with me. In the case of A Real Pain, the last scene is where the story really started.

Aiming to be a fun buddy road trip movie about suicide and the Holocaust. What? It was okay, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's certainly nowhere close to classics like "Sideways".

Hits crazy when you have a brotherly relationship with your cousin like this

audiovisual 70 acting 76 overall feeling 71 avg 72; imo bardzo dobrze zagrane, przyjemny, chociaż tematyka chwilami ciężka, ogólnie to uważam, że spoko przedstawienie Żydów w Polsce, że nie tylko obozy koncentracyjne (chociaż kolega Konrad dobrze mówi patriotycznie, że nic nie wspomnieli, że nie były polskie, tylko nazistowskie), ale też Lublin oxfordem po prawej stronie Wisły, oraz powstanie w getcie

2024 Sundance