Movie Review: An American Pickle (2020)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Brandon Trost  

Starring: Seth Rogen, Sarah Snook  

Running Time: 89 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1919, Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen) and his wife Sarah (Sarah Snook) immigrate from Eastern Europe to New York. He has huge dreams for his family lineage, but a factory mishap results in Herschel being preserved in a pickle barrel. He wakes up in Brooklyn of 2019 and connects with his great grandson Ben (also Rogen), an app programmer. Herschel is unimpressed with Ben's lack of progress in life and becomes determined to out-succeed him, resulting in a feud between generations.

What Works Well: The opening scenes establish the stranger-in-a-strange-time premise with admirable efficiency, and Seth Rogen seamlessly plays against himself. The brisk pacing and short running time ensure no idling in any place, and the plot quickly moves beyond Herschel's sense of discovery to focus on the business of a bitter duel. Beneath all the satirical comedy is an enduring message about immigrant hopes and dreams for future generations.

What Does Not Work As Well: The Simon Rich script cannot avoid the sense of a lost opportunity. The squabble between Herschel and Ben is serious but also contrived, and quickly scales down the movie from ambitious themes to a petty inter-personal dispute. Of course not all the jokes land, and several are over-used. And when the time comes to find an ending, the built-up emotions are just as abruptly reversed.

Key Quote:

Herschel Greenbaum: This is what we're reaching for everybody. This is the dream. This is the goal. Perfect jar of pickles.



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