MovieGoer20’s review published on Letterboxd:
This was a movie that I was anticipating a fair amount. I was definitely curious when I saw Jesse Eisenberg was directing and starring in this film even with a simple sounding concept. I thought it definitely looked like it was going to be an interesting dynamic between him and Kieran Culkin and it looked like they would have an interesting relationship based on the trailer. I was definitely anticipating a decent comedy/drama that’s for sure.
As I expected, both of our lead actors gave memorable and great performances in their respective roles. Jesse Eisenberg’s character is more quiet and reserved but he still manages to have a big personality at times and it feels very genuine and genuinely cares about his cousin who is basically his polar opposite. His cousin played by Kieran Culkin is way more outspoken and not afraid to tell people what he thinks which does tend to be a real pain for Eisenberg at times which leads to embarrassment a couple of times especially at times where it seems like he’s going to have a breakdown. Culkin plays this very convincingly though and he plays this role with a lot of passion and it doesn’t lead to a few moments that could be considered tearjerkers. I know a lot of people are going to be clamoring for Culkin to get awards recognition for his performance and I can’t say I’ll disagree with that pick. Eisenberg and Culkin have a pretty solid dynamic going on but they do play off of each other pretty well here as a classic mismatched family duo. I did like a couple of standout scenes like when they’re on the roof talking or even just eating together as it feels like a genuine family dynamic for the most part. I surprisingly found the tour group memorable too and they all have to deal with this family drama between our two main characters in different ways. Whether it’s Eisenberg going off about how much of a pain Culkin can be or Culkin very bluntly giving out criticism to the tour guide, it definitely leads to some interesting dramatic moments. I did really like the scene where Culkin has the group do some funny poses with the statue though. It was definitely one of the major highlights for me. I also liked how well this film handled the sensitivity and quiet nature that comes with touring a Holocaust concentration camp. The reactions felt very genuine to how people in real life would react to it including shock and sadness with some tears flowing. It was a very powerful scene especially with the tour guide hardly talking at all and just letting these characters absorb all of the horrors and atrocities of the camp. I’m sure that’s what Eisenberg wanted to convey since he himself is has a Jewish identity and he wanted it to pack a very powerful punch for the viewer as if they were touring with everyone in the movie too. The dialogue in this movie is also fairly well written and I thought it even handled the topic of an attempted suicide fairly well too. There was also some decent camera work here too which added to the effectiveness. Personally though I can’t say that this film was anything truly mind blowing or anything. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy what I saw but I just felt like it was above average overall and nothing more. I can’t say that it didn’t leave some kind of impact because I do still remember a fair bit of it but I’ve definitely seen more powerful films on topics like this.
Conclusion: A good film overall no doubt. I am definitely glad that I saw it as it is very well acted from Eisenberg and Culkin and it had some memorable moments. I can’t say it’s the most memorable film but I think it’s definitely a solid start for Eisenberg if he’s going to continue directing as I think he’ll grow from this. I’d still recommend this one though as it has left an impact on a fair amount of people. Looking forward to seeing what Eisenberg does next.
LE
