A Real Pain

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

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The dedicated Jesse Eisenberg directs “A Real Pain.” This is a road film about two troublesome cousins. Though it has much in common with Woody Allen, the film has a unique verve and energy which sets it apart from most road stories, and it is highly entertaining.

David (Eisenberg) is an internet advertiser who is going to meet his cousin on a trip to Poland. David immediately thinks he is in trouble, knowing he miscommunicated. Suddenly, almost with a jump scare, his cousin Benji (Keiran Culkin) walks up behind him.

Benji is unkempt, aloof, inappropriate, and spontaneous. David is straight-laced, uptight and nervous. Though David cares for Benji, his cousin is unpredictable and opinionated. Often David is uncertain in how to approach his cousin. They are on a week’s tour through Poland to discover their grandmother’s roots.

During the first group meeting, Benji says numerous inappropriate things. On the walking tour, Benji becomes insufferable missing appointment sites and interrupting the guide with persistent nagging ferocity. Though David is frustrated by Benji’s habits, his cousin displays a vulnerability.

Nothing is quite as it seems and both Benji and David have demons obscuring their own stations and conditions. This is a film as thoughtful as it is funny with humor exclusive to Eisenberg alone: quirky and wistful.

Shortly after a trek to Majdanek concentration camp, Benji becomes irate and upset noting the contrast and the numbing qualities that are inherent in the 21st-century with the passage of time.

Real sadness and grief persist.

Though it is understandable and tempting to label this film a cinematic relative of Woody Allen and an offshoot “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” there is real gusto and electricity here contained in the being of Kieran Culkin. As with John Belushi, one is just not sure what he will do. The actor exists in a state of likable danger. Culkin is a dynamo and by the last frame your heart will go out to him full force with mystery and wonder.

Write Ian at ianfree11@yahoo.com