Movie Review: A Real Pain

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

A beautiful dramedy. 

It may be a cliché to say that movie makes you both laugh and cry but that is just what makes A Real Pain so special. Though this is a really funny movie, there is a real sadness prevalent throughout the film. This film takes a real look at the pain people have endured both big and small. This is shown through the relationship between the two main characters. These are two Jewish-American cousins, who travel to Poland to see where their Holocaust survivor grandmother used to live. One of them always wears his emotions on his sleeve and always says exactly what he is feeling at the time. The other used to be highly emotionally on the outside but now keeps his emotions tucked inside. Though these two seem drastically different, as the film goes on you can see how they complete each other, especially when they take a trip that involves seeing where the greatest man-made tragedy took place. Much of this is sad in a way that makes us feel vulnerable to the point where we have to take a look at our own pain. The relationship between these two cousins is also deeply emotional because it feels so real. Part this is due to how multifaceted these characters are and how it is impossible for anyone not to be able to see more than a bit of themselves in both of them. Part of this is also due to the incredible chemistry between Jesse Eisenberg (who also directed this movie) and Kieran Culkin. It feels like these two have known each other their whole lives in the same way the characters did. It is hard to believe that a movie like this could also be funny, but this film is often laugh out loud hilarious. The reason the comedy and the drama mix so well here is because they both flow naturally out of the characters. We can laugh and enjoy the eccentricates of these characters, while also feeling the painful emotions they have behind all of them. Because of this the mixture of joy and laughter with sadness and pain becomes simply a truthful showing of the human experience.   

Simply a must see.