A Real Pain

[VoR]

Kieran Culkin seems to be emerging as the most predictable lock of awards season for Best Supporting Actor in this (he's 100% the co-lead but we'll let that go for now...)

He's very good, and it's a very nice, low-stakes little character film that we don't really get enough of these days. Maybe it's a poor reflection on me though, but I could not imagine a worse hell than being trapped on a guided tour with such an utterly insufferable character. I'd honestly rather spend an enforced holiday with his character from Succession.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Leave the fucking tour guide alone, he's just doing his job!

I'll give it an 8 because I do think it was well written, well made and well acted, but to be honest I was cringing my way through a lot of Culkin's big scenes. And Jesse Eisenberg's big one, come to think of it.

 

[passthatdutch]

I enjoyed this but also couldn't stop wondering why Culkin was nominated in supporting for awards throughout the film.

Interesting that Culkin and Jermey Strong are both in awards contention for playing not dissimilar characters to their ones in Succession. I enjoyed Strong in The Apprentice playing rotten old Roy Cohn a bit more I think. Be interesting to see if they can escape being typecast with what comes next.

 

[Jacques]

I really enjoyed this (other than my screening being interrupted by drilling noises coming from outside part way through), but it is the most blatant case of category fraud that I've seen. A brilliant performance, but the film feels like it's more about Benji than it is about David tbh!

Great movie for fans of Jesse Eisenberg feet

 

[Finn]

I liked this. I didn't ever completely buy his character - more for the writing than the performance - but for the most part I looked past that and was swept along with it. It's well done and got better and better as it went on. I thought the final moment was terrific.

I don't think Culkin deserves an Oscar, mind. He's good but not remarkable.

 

[rhythmbandit]

I really enjoyed it, the dynamic between Culkin and Eisenberg was spot on and it was funny and moving in equally l measure.

 

[Christian]

I liked this. I've never seen Succession, so didn't suffer from the complaints that Keiran Culkin isn't doing anything new. Jesse Eisenberg was fine, but really doesn't have the range.

Most of all it made me want to jump on a plane to a central European town for the weekend.

 

[GNL]

I really enjoyed this. I laughed, I cried, I was disturbed by a movie so flagrantly appealing to the wikifeet crowd.

It also made me want to visit Lublin.