22/44
David Kaplan: Yeah
Mismatched cousins reunite for a tour of Poland to honor their beloved grandmother, but their old tensions resurface in the context of their family history. When Benji and David visit their grandmother’s home in Poland, the site is where Jesse Eisenberg’s real-life ancestors settled in the diaspora. Benji Kaplan: We keep moving, we keep light, we keep agile. Benji Kaplan: The conductor will come by, taking tickets, we tell him we’re going to the bathroom. David Kaplan: Bathroom. Benji Kaplan: He gets to the back of the train, starts walking toward the front looking for stragglers. David Kaplan: Excuse me, are we the stragglers?
Benji Kaplan: Yeah
When he gets to the front, the train will be in the station and we’ll be free. David Kaplan: That’s so stupid. The tickets are probably like twelve dollars. Benji Kaplan: That’s the principle of it. We shouldn’t have to pay for train tickets in Poland. This is our country. David Kaplan: No, it’s not, it was our country.
Featured on CBS News Sunday Morning: Episode #4644 (2024)
They kicked us out because they thought we were cheap. 12 Etudes, Op. 25, No. 3 in F major Written by Frederic Chopin Performed by Tzvi Erez. I’ve always enjoyed watching Jesse Eisenberg’s performances. He often brings a strong edginess and some quick, clever dialogue to the roles he plays. He just won the Waldo Salt Award for Writing at the Sundance Film Festival for the recently released A REAL PAIN.
David is a high-strung billboard ad designer with a wife and son
Eisenberg produced, wrote and directed this “drama” of a relationship study between estranged cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin). Benji is a sensitive and emotionally aware person who is grieving the loss of his grandmother, to whom he was very close. They take a trip to Poland together, accompanying a Jewish history tour group, which obviously brings up a lot of different and difficult feelings. This is a beautiful film with fully developed characters who really evolve as it goes along. It’s clear that they’re both going through something, just like everyone else in this one. The script is well-paced with a perfect mix of emotional beats and comedy. This is actually the second film that Eisenberg has written and directed, the first being WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD, which is now on my to-watch list.
That said, I can’t ignore Eisenberg’s performance
Having seen SUCCESSION, I knew Kieran Culkin was amazing, and he’s even better in this one. In some ways, it’s harder to play a low-key role, which he’s great at. The film is about generational trauma, different types of pain, and the human condition. I hope A REAL PAIN gets talked about during awards season! From Alien: Romulus to Road House, check out some of our favorite posters from 2024.