'An American Pickle' review: HBO Max's Seth Rogen flick is a bitter dill

‘An american pickle’ [2020] / HBO MAX

As the world is still in quarantine, HBO Max, home to movies and shows of the HBO network, a while ago, made the choice to release a film [originally set for a theatrical release by Sony Pictures] to their new streaming service. That film is the new comedy starring actor/comedian Seth Rogen.

The movie An American Pickle is based off the 2013 short story Sell Out by Simon Rich (who also wrote this movie). For me, I’ve been able to see the film on Crave (yes people, I’m a proud supporter of cable television), I must say, it’s not to be a fresh batch of pickles for me.

The film begins in 1919 when a man named Hershel (played by Seth Rogen) meets his wife from their shtetl (small town). They shortly get married and are both forced to flee when the Russians invade their land; thereby, finding a new life in New York. Hershel is offered a job inside a pickle factory to help make money for his wife who’s expecting.

On one unfortunate day, he falls into a vat of pickles just as the factory closes and is brined for 100 years. He wakes up in 2019 and finds out he has only one living descendant: his great-grandson Ben (also Rogen), who works as a freelance app developer. Ben helps his questionable great-grandfather discover new worlds of dating, cabs, and seltzer water.

Ben dreams to develop his app Boop Bop, an app that checks ethnics for products by companies, to the public. One unexpected day, Hershel loses his mind over the location of the burial grounds of his deceased wife, which then leads to assault on some undeserved workers. After they get arrested and are released on bail, they begin to clash on each other; Hershel is mad that Ben has beliefs about religion, and Ben is upset that his criminal record has led to investors not interested in his app. What begins is too much to ask: war.

I found the movie was okay, but not great. The performances of Seth Rogen as both main characters is an outstanding performance in his career (Seth adopts an Orthodox Jew-like voice for Hershel). But its turning point is pretty off to what you thought you expected the movie to actually be: a Jewish version of Blast From the Past — but without the romance. Instead, the film heavily relies on Ben wanting ways to sabotage Hershel’s career as a newfound seller of freshly made pickles (one of his loyal customers is played by viral internet star Kalen Allen) but Hershel has many tricks to get back up again and foil his great-grandson’s plans.

The movie itself felt pretty abrupt with its turn, and Hershel becomes too much of an annoyance when he tries to get things his way, even condemning he’ll “do terrible violence”. Whether you enjoy much of Seth Rogen’s work since his Knocked Up times, this movie could be for you; it is—in my opinion—his weakest. But for some of you, it could turn out to be quite a sweet dill.

For those interested, here’s the trailer:

---

Richard Renaud

Richard Renaud is a student currently on his second and last year of Professional Writing at Algonquin College. His activities are walking, watching TV and movies, as well as hanging out with family and friends. If you do see him, don’t be afraid to say “Hi”. Unlike the picture, he has [sadly] never been to space.