Film Review – A Real Pain

Two years ago, actor Jesse Eisenberg made an impressive debut as a writer/director with “When You Finish Saving the World.” It was a character-based journey through waves of neuroses, retaining the creative fingerprints of a performer who mostly takes roles involving unsettled people. He’s back in “A Real Pain,” which is also a study of raw feelings and social pleasantries, only here there’s a bit more intimacy when it comes to relationships and communication. It’s something of a cinematic odyssey, following two cousins getting in touch with their past while confronting certain uncomfortable realities about their relationship, and Eisenberg doesn’t stray far from the irritations that fascinate him as a helmer. “A Real Pain” has pieces of humor, but it’s primarily a study of two relatives learning to understand each other once again, hitting some vivid moments of behavior and reflection along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com