A Real Pain

I recently attended a screening of this movie and had the opportunity to hear from actors Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, and Jennifer Gray afterwards. They explained how it was filmed almost entirely in Poland, with a largely Polish cast and crew and the support of the government. A scene in the movie where they tour a concentration camp was the first ever instance of the government allowing a movie to be filmed at a camp (even Schindler's List had to build its own sets). Jesse Eisenberg, who directed, had personally appealed to have this happen, promising it would be entirely respectful, and reinforce the mission of the museum. The movie is poignant and I really enjoyed it. Plus, only 90 minutes long.

ponygirl, thank you for the background information. I'm looking forward to seeing it on Sunday at a small theater in Charlotteville. Unfortunately it's not at the major theaters around here.

I have heard some about this movie on talk shows but it has been a while.

Maybe I am wrong but I think that this movie is based on the life of Jesse Eisenberg's grandmother. or perhaps other family members.

Jesse Eisenberg is showing his stuff. He has become a real talent.

Thanks a bunch for posting about this movie. I hadn't heard anything about it, but it is in my local theater right now, so I'm going to see it in the next few days!

It's particularly interesting to see movies you can relate to in some way, whether it's the personality of a character or the places they're visiting. I expect I'll relate to David who is criticized for "lacking passion" by his more mercurial cousin.

BigMike, I related to Jesse Eisenberg's character completely. But it was Kieran Culkin who really carried the movie. And I had to laugh at the screening: they both wore the same type of sneakers they wore throughout the movie. Bostonphil, you are correct, the story was based on Jesse Eisenberg's grandmother. In the movie the grandmother's house they visit is her actual house.

BMWBGV, I just came back from seeing it based on your recommendation. Yes, it was a good film and makes me want to visit Poland again. And I immediately recognized that introvert/extrovert traveling dynamic. The scene where one is dressed and loaded, ready to go out the hotel room door, while the other is slowly, methodically fussing with his shoelaces was too real.

ponygirl813, I'm looking forward to comparing my observations with yours.

BostonPhil, every time I see your name it reminds me of Boston Marathon great Bill Rodgers. Anyway, yes, I tend to be the person who is ready to go, but I've learned over the years to cool my heels because, you know, happy wife, happy life lol.

stan, do you see an Oscar nomination for anything or anyone out of this film?

I've heard that Eisenberg as writer and director is likely to be nominated. The characters were so well written that the dialog was totally believable. And Culkin did as good a job as any actor Ive seen this year. But it's a "small" film and not likely to be seen by many, so chances of a win are pretty low. Hollywood likes the blockbusters.

For me a central message from the film is that everybody is going through something and reminding ourselves of that can make us more empathic, or more simply, kinder. It may be worth remembering when someone cuts you off on the road or is otherwise rude in any given situation.

everybody is going through something and reminding ourselves of that
can make us more empathic, or more simply, kinder. It may be worth
remembering when someone cuts you off on the road or is otherwise rude
in any given situation.

Or when that salesperson who annoys the crap out of you comes to your office to try to get you to use her product once again. You're a little short with her because using her product adds a great deal of complication to your day, which is the last thing you need.

Then you find out she was born in Cambodia. Spent her early and middle childhood in a Khmer Rouge prison camp. Where her father was executed. She escaped the camp with her mother and sister by walking 200 miles to Thailand. Then at around age 10 she with her immediate family was granted sponsored immigration to the US. Where all the kids made fun of her and shunned her for not speaking English. So she memorized the dictionary. Then she won the national spelling bee at age 12. Ronald Reagan mentioned her in a speech. Disney made a movie about her. She still shares her experience with school groups to try to encourage kids to be kind to each other.

And you feel really bad about being short with her. And it's a turning point in your life for how you treat everyone you encounter. And you become good friends.

Dave, the better angels of my nature seem diminished when it comes to sales calls, especially cold calls over the phone. I know I need to try harder.

Jesse Eisenberg received two Golden Globe Nominations for A Real Pain.

Phil, that's great to hear. Thanks for the update. Too often these under-the-radar films are overlooked.

Actually, Jesse Eisenberg received three Globe nominations for A Real Pain, with four total for the movie. The Globes uses two separate award categories for movies--Drama, and Comedy or Musical (animated is separate). A Real Pain was determined to fall in the Comedy class, where it is up for Best Picture, Eisenberg for Best Male Actor, and Culkin for Best Male Supporting Actor. In addition, Eisenberg was nominated for Best Screenplay (no classification division there, covers them all).

As you might guess, we loved this movie. Had not heard of it until seeing Big Mike's recommendation here, we waited until earlier this week when we could see it with open captions (damn my ears. I find the teleprompter box too distracting.)

Thanks Larry. I only noticed two nominations.

I only heard about it and have not seen it. How is it that it was nominated for best comedy anything????

Isn't it a very serious movie?

Hey, b-phil. It's how the Golden Globes does it, they have two categories for movies, which is probably a lot fairer for the awards process than the Oscars single category. It is a very serious movie, but it also has a substantial amount of comedy in it, so I presume that is why they classified it into Comedy or Musical (and FWIW there are Chopin pieces throughout). In any event, it is serious recognition, not dependent on box-office appeal and big-budget studio advertising that dominates the Oscars. Why are the Globes listing the Dylan pic a drama when it is about music, and presumably (we've not seen it yet) has comedic elements woven through it?

bostonphil7, I think I'd classify it in the dark comedy or tragic-comedy genre, if you have to classify it. It's really about the relationship between the two cousins within the context of a dark background.

Dave, you have the best life stories…..

TTM,

Funny... I ended up learning all of this because I was talking to the salesperson about a book I read (The Color of Courage) about the son of Warsaw's mayor during WWII. His life progressed from small acts of defiance like changing street signs to confuse Nazi troops at age 12 to imprisonment by the Nazis at 14 to Warsaw Uprising participant at 15 to Nazi prisoner of war at 16. She told her story in third person form and then said, "I am that girl." I thought she was full of it, to be honest, so I started sleuthing on the internet and found out... it was all true, and it really was her.

Dave, your story says many things to me, among which are: incredible people are hiding in plain sight all around us - and everyone has a story. I need to not lose sight of that.

I also need to see this movie.

I really wanted to see this movie in a theater when it was first released, but unfortunately it only was shown in my area on just a couple weeknights when I couldn’t attend. Thanks for the reminder about this movie, Big Mike, as I just googled the title and found out that it will start streaming on Dec. 31. Happy to have something interesting to watch during my holiday staycation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2024/12/29/kieran-culkins-a-real-pain-arrives-on-digital-streaming-this-week/

I believe that Culkin won a Golden Globe but later on when Jesse's name was mentioned, he got a very large applause from his peers