A Real Pain
“It's the principle of the thing. We shouldn't have to pay for train tickets in Poland. This is our country.” - Benji
“No, it's not, it was our country. They kicked us out 'cause they thought we were cheap.” -David
This is a movie that I waited a long time to write a review! (Sorry Z and E) The longer I wait, the more I don't think about this movie. That may sound harsh, but I do remember leaving the theater thinking it left a lot on the table and as time went on, I stand by my thoughts. The acting was great and I was reminded how much I like Jesse Eisenberg and how I need to give Succession another chance, but I was sadly left wanting. I am not sure what genre they were going for and they were definitely experimenting with multiple deep themes. Sadly, to me all the things they tried fell flat. When the ending came, I was a bit confused and not sure what I was supposed to be feeling. Overall though, the movie was well acted and had some very funny moments and situations, but if you aren’t a dry indie film fan, this one may not be for you.
-J
An extremely well acted, but otherwise boring buddy road trip genre film. For a topics is handled - the Holocaust, suicide, mental illness, etc., it felt very safe all things considered. Too safe. This is Jesse Eisenberg’s sophomore directorial debut, and hopefully he keeps at it, as I think he has potential, to be sure, but hopefully can display a bit more personality in subsequent ventures. Kieran Culkin is a good in this as he is Succession, and can’t wait to see him in more projects. Very skippable, but good for a plane ride, maybe?
-Z
