The Jewish tradition of placing stones on the grave markers of the deceased as a form of respect and remembrance becomes a central animating force in A Real Pain, the new film written, directed and starring Jesse Eisenberg. While visiting Poland with a Holocaust tour group, cousins David and Benji (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, respectively) place stones on one of the markers at the country’s oldest gravesites; they try it again at the front entrance of the home where their beloved grandmother grew up, until they are alerted in brusque Polish by a concerned neighbor that an old woman actually lives there now and is likely to trip over the stone and break her neck.

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A REAL PAIN ★★★★ (4/4 stars)
Directed by: Jesse Eisenberg
Written by: Jesse Eisenberg
Starring: Jesse........

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