An American Pickle

Initially when I sat down to watch the 2020 movie "An American Pickle" from director Brandon Trost I wasn't really having much of any anticipation, given the fact that I am not overly keen on Seth Rogen as an actor. But still, this being a movie that I hadn't already seen, and I was given the chance, I ended up sitting down to watch it.

I will say that "An American Pickle" was actually an entertaining and enjoyable enough movie for what it turned out to be. Sure, this movie was by no account groundbreaking or particularly innovative, but it definitely did have its moments. And I will say that Seth Rogen was actually good in his two roles in the movie.

The storyline was adequate, and it definitely had some interesting aspects to it. I just feel, however, that the entire movie was too shallow. It just felt like writer Simon Rich didn't really delve into the full potential that was readily available with the script and storyline. So the movie came off as being sort of half-hearted most of the times. There were so much potential for delving deeper into many things and exploring them further.

I am rating "An American Pickle" a six out of ten stars. It was watchable sure, but it just wasn't an outstanding or particularly memorable movie ultimately. Nor do I think that this is actually a movie that I will be watching a second time ever.

Herschel Greenbaum is a struggling ditch digger from Shtetl who, after falling in love and wanting a better life for his family, decides to find a better life in America. While working at his new job at a pickle factory, Herschel falls unnoticed into a vat of brine, perfectly preserving him for 100 years (don't question the science). His only successor in present-day is his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum, who meets Herschel. Herschel doesn't understand Ben's lifestyle, and Ben is quick to dismiss any advice given to him by his great-grandfather. 'An American Pickle' explores the family dynamics of different generations of the same family, and while not the balls-out comedy we are used to seeing from Rogan, is a charming and entertaining watch from start to finish.

Both Herschel and Ben are played by Seth Rogan, who leads this adaptation of the book "Sell out" by Simon Rich impressively. I enjoyed watching Rogan play both a serious role as well as the fish out of water role which is both endearing and impressive to watch. The technical achievements of playing against your own character in the same scene are always magical to behold. Ever since Lindsey Lohan's 'The Parent Trap', to Paul Rudd's Netflix series 'Living With Myself', I never get tired of the camera trick that is used in a unique way in playing with the idea that your ancestors and you look alike.

I've always had an interest in family genealogical work. Tracing your roots back to where you came from eventually leads to the question; "If they saw me today, what would they think?" What "An American Pickle' does by exploring this concept as well as how would the modern-day world reacts to someone from a different time is incredibly topical. How would someone who never grew up with technology, social media, or even modern-day health regulations, learn to survive in the 21st century?

The weaker moments in 'An American Pickle' are where the film goes against it's set rules for the world you are in. In some moments it seems incredibly topical and accurate to the world we are in with consequences for actions. But when it serves the story progression forward, those rules no longer apply to the characters which kind of underminds the films established guidelines. While Rogan's performance is very impressive, there isn't a lot of characters other than Rogan's that maybe could've been interesting to explore in a b plot.

Overall, I had fun watching An American Pickle. I would recommend you watch this if you're a fan of films like 'The Disaster Artist' or '50/50, and want to see both a comedic and heartfelt performance by Seth Rogan

As others have pointed out this is not your typical Seth Rogen film. This is his attempt to make a fish out of water story in the style of Splash or Big and while he doesn't reinvent the wheel in doing so there were some enjoyable moments. This is obviously meant to be a film which you can watch with you family, it is not vulgar and it focuses on the importance of family values and relationships. There are many moments/jokes in this film that have to do with Judaism which Seth has joked about previously, but here this is much more of a love note to that part of his life. I think maybe some of the negativity being directed at this film is because some people don't understand that aspect of it. They instead are expecting the normal stoner humour Seth Rogen. I think this movie is worth watching if you want to see a different side of Seth and don't mind seeing the things I mentioned.

Its basic virtue is the large freedom proposed to viewer. The liberty to chose the fair perspective, from nice comedy, clash between generation, best performance of Seth Rogen, decent descending in Jew tradition, sentimental portrait of a life face to new challenges, the life lesson, the nostalgia about lost worlds and irony about present one, the old influence of Hibernatus by Edouard Molinaro . So, generosity as the precious gift .

It is not completely bad movie, the beginning was promising, but then after 15 min the screenplay becomes quite stupid and most importantly, not funny. I liked some other Seth movies, so he can definitely do a better job. Just boring mess...