Danielle’s review published on Letterboxd:
A nice surprise. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy A Real Pain, written by directed by Jesse Eisenberg. For starters I’m pretty particular with drama because I bore easily but even more so I have a complicated relationship with Eisenberg. He played Lex Luthor, a character I love and I wasn’t happy about that. I took it personal. All that said, this is a good flick and outside of my wheelhouse. If I think it’s good, others will think it’s great.
What really impresses me here is all of Eisenberg’s work offscreen. The writing is fantastic. This is a dialogue heavy film, the kind that puts me to sleep but Eisenberg writes with a conversational tone that made me feel like I was eavesdropping in on a real conversation. The characters are great. Opposite personalities with Eisenberg playing an uptight, responsible guy while Kieran Culkin plays a manic eccentric. It makes for interesting, contrasting dynamics. The reveal midway made perfect sense. It’s just a well-written script.
Then there’s the acting. Culkin is amazing. There’s a great scene on a rooftop between him and Eisenberg. It’s an emotional conversation and you watch Culkin’s eyes well up and tears fall. It’s a hard-hitting moment. In general, he’s just fun to watch, playing such a loose cannon. Eisenberg doesn’t do too shabby himself. He gets a brief monologue in a restaurant and really sells it. He’s solid, Culkin is better, but still solid.
It’s interesting how he operates as a visual artist. Most of this film is bland looking. Not a lot of variation in angles or movement with the camera. Then he does some interesting things in the final act. There’s this scene at an airport and a straight line is the shortest distance but instead of moving in to the subject, the camera swings around, pushing in between two people. It’s a very interesting and intricate shot. I’d like to see more of that in his next film.
Which brings me to my second surprise, I’ll be genuinely interested in his next film.
November 2024 First-Time Watches Ranked
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