An American Pickle — Movie Review
by KJ Proulx
At this point, it goes without saying that 2020 has not been the best year for new releases in terms of feature film entertainment. From Netflix to Prime Video, Disney+ to Apple TV+, and even newcomers HBO Max and Quibi, all trying to be the saving grace for theatres being closed, it still seems that studios are holding back their best projects for eventual theatrical distribution. It has at least been nice to see Netflix releasing films like Da 5 Bloods and Apple TV+ releasing films like Greyhound, so at least some of the scheduled movies are being released in some capacity. One of the most recent films to be given this treatment is the Seth Rogen-lead An American Pickle on HBO Max. Originally supposed to hit theatres but now available to stream, here are my thoughts on this dry comedy.
The film begins 100 years in the past as Herschel Greenbaum, while doing his everyday job in a pickle factory, falls into one of the pickle brines. As fate would have it, that factory becomes condemned and he is left in the brine, being preserved until he is found, alive and well in the present day. Discovering that his family from the past has all passed on, he then finds that he has a great-great-grandson with the same last name as him, as well as being the same age. Seth Rogen plays both characters which makes this film far more enjoyable, but that’s also where I have my issues. Although this premise is a wacky and unique fish out of water story, it never quite lives up to its full potential.
The first act of this movie has a very nice, slightly comedic progression that held my attention very well. The problem is that this film takes its premise far too seriously, which is what I actually think is what they were going for in terms of comedy. For that reason, I’ll give the movie a pass for trying to be incredibly deadpan from start to finish. It was almost as if they made a Saturday Night Live sketch, stayed serious the entire time, and stretched the sketch to 90 minutes. That might sound like a harsh criticism, but it actually worked for me in that way most of the time. I just wished there were a few more clever jokes. An American Pickle has some nice emotional moments, but it gets way too caught up in the emotional side to the story by the end.
Where this film shines though, is the fact that Seth Rogen has stepped out of his usual comfort zone. Yes, he’s shown his dramatic chops in films like Long Shot and Steve Jobs, but I think this is the most committed to anything I’ve seen him in, outside of straight-up comedy. He plays off himself from two completely different time periods so well that it just felt natural. I bought his modern-day role, which was similar to his usual self, but his 100-year-old self was much more fleshed out and I thought his performance elevated that even further.
Overall, to reiterate, An American Pickle is a very short movie that almost feels like a comedy sketch at times, but benefits from a strong central dual performance by Seth Rogen. Director Brandon Trost, who has clearly broken out with this film, has a solid future ahead of him in my eyes. I think he should’ve maybe leaned a little heavier on some more humour, but it was also obvious that’s not what he was going for. I enjoyed watching this movie, but it’s not a whole lot to write home about. It’s an easy, breezy viewing experience that’s now available to stream.
Rating: 3.5/5
Check out the trailer below:
