In Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Nickel Boys review and A Real Pain review, two radically different Oscar hopefuls are explored and explained.

Nickel Boys Review

Nickel Boys is the gut wrenching story of the intellectually gifted Ellwood Curtis and his journey to adulthood via the brutal Florida reform “school” known as the Nickel Academy. The film is an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name. Having read, and been profoundly moved by the book, I was eager to see how it would be portrayed on screen.

Director/co-writer RaMell Ross is known for one other indie film, Hale County This Morning, This Evening, so adapting this much beloved and awarded book for the big screen was quite the opportunity. You can tell Ross took it very seriously, going for something completely original and artistic, unlike anything we’ve seen before.

In that, he succeeded. But did he do justice to the story? It pains me to say he did not. Having been the only one who read the book in the screening I attended, I was mobbed walking out, with friends, family and colleagues asking me, “So what just happened? I didn’t get it.”

The narrative is presented mostly via hazy images, clips and bites—many from the Civil Rights Movement which was happening when the story took place. Perspectives are frequently alternated, as are time periods, and for most, bewilderment ensues.

Because of the way the film is edited, it’s difficult to appreciate the acting of Ethan Harisse and Brandon Wilson, who played the young Elwood and his best friend Turner. Daveed Diggs (adult Elwood) is also but briefly shown. Perhaps the only one who really gets to show her superb acting chops is Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who plays grandmother Hattie.

Ross made a bold choice in this adaptation. It’s creative, artistic, striking and at times, beautiful. But does it serve the acclaimed story? Sadly, it does not.

Rated PG-13

If this Nickel Boys review makes you curious, find it in theaters December 13. Get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

A Real Pain review

Here’s yet another ambitious tour de force, this one from a creator, Jesse Eisenberg, who writes, directs, produces and stars in A Real Pain. It’s a slightly dark, dry comedy about two radically different cousins who come together on a Jewish heritage tour and explore their pasts, presents and futures.

Eisenberg plays the David, the neurotic one, as he does in so many of his projects. Kieran Culkin gives a show stopping performance as Benji, the seemingly bi-polar one. They live in different parts of New York, but come together to explore their grandmother’s roots in Poland, using a money from a bequest she recently left to them.

David has too many boundaries, Benji has too few, and this is played out time and time again as they interact with their tour group and the various other people and situations they come across. In fact, it gets a little redundant, even though the film is only 89 minutes long.

David sums up Benni’s character nicely when he tells him (paraphrased, for the kids) ‘You light up every room you walk into, then you rain on everybody in it.’

One of the things I like best about the film is the title, “A Real Pain,” which could have so many different meanings and taken in so many different contexts. Allow a moment to appreciate the cleverness.

Rated R

1 Hour 29 Minutes

If this A Real Pain review urges you to stroll on over the the cineplex, find times and tickets on Fandango.com.

In Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Nickel Boys review and A Real Pain review, two radically different Oscar hopefuls are explored and explained.