January 5, 2025 – Jesse Eisenberg writes, directs and stars in “A Real Pain,” but his co-star, Kieran Culkin, brother of that “Home Alone” star, is the one getting all the Oscar buzz this year. That's because Eisenberg plays the quiet character and Culkin plays the loud one.

Eisenberg plays David Kaplan, while Culkin plays his cousin, Benji Kaplan. We pick them up at the airport as they embark on a road trip in Poland to visit the former home of their recently deceased grandmother Dory, who miraculously survived the Holocaust, and who also left money in her will to them for this road trip.

The two join a small group tour, led by non-Jewish British guide James (played by Will Sharpe). All of those on the tour, except James, had Jewish parents or grandparents who had lived in Poland. The tour includes a trip to a WWII extermination camp.

David is an introvert who is uncomfortable in groups like this, especially when it comes to sharing his feelings. Benji, on the other hand, is an extrovert will strike up conversations with complete strangers and easily makes friends. He will blurt out unsolicited advice, opinions and comments even if this embarrasses or offends those around him. He's charming, and lights up the room when he walks in. David is jealous of this. He both hates, and loves, Benji.

As the trip moves along, more is revealed about Benji and his relationship to David and his grandmother. Benji is mercurial, at times being very happy and outgoing, at other times he seems depressed, and this worries David, who is aware of Benji's self-destructive tendencies.

Benji's repeated outbursts and pointed opinions are a constant source of embarrassment for David. The awkward relationship between David and Benji is played up for comedy in the story, but the funniest line in the movie is reserved for another person on the tour, Mark (played by Daniel Oaks of “The Thomas Crown Affair”).

The deadpan line is delivered perfectly by Oaks after Benji makes a big scene on the train, complaining long and loud about the impropriety of the group traveling in comfort in first class accommodations to see a camp where thousands suffered and died in World War II. Benji declares he will move out of first class to the back of the train. As he leaves, Oaks says, “I don't think you are going to find much suffering back there either.” Also on the tour is the African Jew Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan of “Beasts of No Nation”). He has quite the story to tell.

In addition to such outbursts, Benji and David are always late, mostly because of Benji, causing the rest of the group to wait on them every day of the tour. Yet Benji remains more popular in the group than the more withdrawn David. I doubt Benji's behavior would be tolerated so well in real life, but at least this scenario is not beyond belief.

David and Benji sometimes shout at each other, but they eventually come to a better understanding of each other. It is pretty easy to understand where David's conventional life is headed, with a regular job, a wife and child. Benji's future, without a job, or his own residence, and no direction home, is hard to see at the end of the movie.

Benji is an arresting character, and the relationship between David and Benji is fun to untangle, too. I did find Benji pretty annoying, probably because I identified more with David's character. I saw the name Jennifer Grey in the credits and that sounded familiar. It turns out I had seen her before in “Dirty Dancing” and “Wind,” but her face has changed so much over the years I didn't recognize her as the actor playing tour member Marcia Kramer in the movie.

The dynamic between Benji, David and the rest of the tour group works well in this film. It works pretty well as a road movie and as a character study. This is writer-director Jesse Eisenberg's best movie, and it should secure more acting awards for Culkin. This movie rates a B.

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