Most will recognize Jesse Eisenberg as an actor, if not for his iconic portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010), then for his turn as Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s DC films. Fewer will know him as a director, and yet his second film, A Real Pain, is currently in the Oscars conversation. The film follows two cousins, Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Jesse Eisenberg), who sign up for a Holocaust tour of Poland, in an attempt to honor the memory of their immigrant grandmother. Their personalities clash as they confront both the pain of their past and the collective pain of their tour group.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., Antonio, and I try to explain why this film works as both a character study and a vehicle for bigger ideas. Greg then launches our discussion into the stratosphere by applying Nietzsche’s notion of The Rational Man to Eisenberg’s philosophical meditation on pain. We close out, as usual, with a debate about how far A Real Pain can go at the Oscars.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 18:01 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to book a tour with A Real Pain, you can listen safely until then.

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