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Kieran Culkin: "A Real Pain"

 Jesse Eisenberg has been studying the work of Kenneth Longergan--which is a smart choice.


No script comes within spitting distance of "You Can Count on Me." Lonergan's wonderful story concerns troubled siblings who reunite after years of estrangement. Both siblings have difficulties with boundaries. The tension grows until a rupture occurs; although it's clear that these two people love each other, it's maybe for the best if one lives on Mars, sending letters now and then, keeping a distance.

Jesse Eisenberg's new movie doesn't have (a) Kenneth Lonergan's wit, (b) Kenneth Lonergan's understanding of plotting and suspense, (c) Lonergan's eye for detail and his ability to create "organic" shifts in tone, (d) Lonergan's sense of economy, his way of saying only what needs to be said. But why not borrow from the greats? If you're choosing a role model, choose Kenneth Lonergan.

The favored Lonergan topic is a pairing of adults who can't quite take care of each other. This is the idea behind "You Can Count on Me," but it's also the engine that drives "Manchester by the Sea." Can Casey Affleck find some kind of functional bond with Lucas Hedges? Bravely, Lonergan suggests that the answer is: no. And we get a similar kind of "no" at the end of "A Real Pain," by Eisenberg.

Two broken cousins ("we used to be like brothers") travel to Poland. They want to walk in the footsteps of their grandmother, who is recently deceased. One of the cousins, Kieran Culkin, isn't really cut out for life on this planet; he is recovering from a suicide attempt, he can't make plans, and his way of engaging with people is a little too "raw," too needy. Culkin is "a real pain." At the same time, the Laura Linney character, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is only doing a pantomime of mature behavior; he can't stop himself from placing excessive nervous phone calls, crying in a restaurant, rubbing salt in a friend's wounds. In the movie's most striking scene, Culkin is eulogizing his grandmother, whom he has recast as a saint. Eisenberg--irritated--understands that the way to annoy his cousin is to point out his cousin's obvious aimlessness, messiness (the cousin is always stoned, unemployed, and sleeping on a couch). So Eisenberg says, "Grandma actually had a favorite remark. Immigrants work at the car wash, their children become doctors and lawyers, their grandchildren are stoned and unemployed and sleeping on a couch." The moment Eisenberg says this, it's clear he has lost an inner battle. The absence of compassion, in this moment, suggests that it's really Eisenberg who is "the mess" within the family.

Kenneth Lonergan uses classical music in both of his major films; you can also expect a substantial dose of classical tunes in "A Real Pain."

I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but I was mostly interested.
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