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When I wrote my review of Woody Allen’s Cafe Society in 2016, I went on quite a bit about how I found Jesse Eisenberg’s stuttering neurotic turn to suddenly be really irritating. I’d thought he’d been great in The Squid and the Whale, The Social Network, The Double and the 2009 Land Duology; Adventure and Zombie. I’d even quite liked him in Now You See Me, but in Allen’s last movie before his own more significant fall from grace he really wound me up. At the time I traced Eisenberg’s fall from my favour back to Batman v Superman, which is interesting because Eisenberg has just spoken about how the reception to that movie hurt his career in a big way so I guess I wasn’t the only one. Either way, I wasn’t enjoying his work anymore. 

With this new film though I am a fan again. It’s not that he’s moved far away from his normal on screen persona, it’s just that here it feels honest and genuine and less of a schtick. A Real Pain is also written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg too so he is entirely the architect of his own come back. The story tells of two slightly estranged cousins who come back together for a tour around Poland in honour of their recently departed Grandmother and curiously Eisenberg was originally set to play the other one which might have been a departure. His performance as David is great though and is the heart of the movie. Opposite him is Kieran Culkin’s Benji who is the showier part (I’m sure he’ll get the Oscar) but if the film truly hangs around either of them it is probably Eisenberg’s character.

In truth this is a great two hander with each actor being a wonderful foil to the other. Culkin’s Benji is the real pain of the title; an abrasively honest man who pushes people away and inspires them in equal measure and somehow at the same time. The real pain is also within him though and Culkin provides a strong depiction of depression beneath the frenzy. Still though, it is when you see David’s sadness that the film is strongest. There’s a nice balance to their double act.

The tour the men are on is holocaust themed, their Grandmother having been a survivor. This means there is generational pain involved too and this is handled sensitively. What is remarkable for all of this is that A Real Pain is not even a slight pain to watch. It is moving but it is also funny and heartwarming. Much of this comes from Benji and David but also in the eclectic group of people they are travelling around with. Jennifer Grey is among them, appearing in a cinema release for the first time in a while before the inevitable Dirty Dancing Legacy Sequel comes out later this year. It is nice to see her back on the big screen. Mention should go to Will Sharpe who plays the British guide.

In the end though this is Eisenberg’s movie and it is the work of a subtle and progressive actor and filmmaker. I was already thinking I’d been harsh on him nine years ago, it was oddly critical of me, but I’m pleased to have been proved so resoundingly wrong.