An American Pickle
Ten Second Review: Seth Roger leads a sweet comedy that grapples with family and identity.
I do love going to the cinema with little to no context. A title, a poster and comfy seat is an intriguing manner in which to see a film. Not knowing whether you’re in for a heart wrenching drama or an odd ball comedy, all though you can often tell from the poster, is really fun if you’re in the mood for it. An American Pickle was perfect for this. I didn’t know where it was going so when it opened in a hazy 4:3 aspect ratio I was certainly coloured curious.
Part of me recommends seeing it without knowing where it’s going, but if you are continuing to read this then I’ll keep the synopsis brief (but you’ve been warned).
Herschel and Sarah Greenbaum (Seth Rogen and Sarah Snook) are dissatisfied with life in their shtetl in the fictional Eastern European country. They emigrate to New York City and Herschel gets a job in a pickle factory, but an accident sees him preserved in brine for a hundred years. When he comes to, he only has one surviving member of his family, his great grandson, Ben (also, Rogen). The pair will have to reckon with each other’s dreams while Herschel learns to live in the modern world.
The film attempts to grapple with a lot of themes, all though they are interconnected. Weighing his Orthodox Jewish beliefs and lack of knowledge of the 21st century, Herschel struggles to understand Ben and his motivations. The film has some dead spots and the varied nature of the things it grapples with may leave some audiences a little cold. However, I think if you get on board for a slightly off the wall comedic exploration family, religion and modernity, then it’s quite enjoyable.
Rogen is great and for the most part the film moves along at a fair pace with enough jokes to keep people engaged. It does suffer from being slightly cluttered (or over ambitious) due to the amount of themes it seeks to explore. I think for its light hearted and snappy tone this can be forgiven as it still manages to get those themes across, just not fully extract all the potential from them.
An American Pickle is a bit of a surprise. Rather like it’s name it’s a little sweet and a little sour. There’s clearly potential for a film that is wider ranging in its scope (but this film may need be longer) and there’s clearly space for an edit that sees a tighter version of the story too, but I really did enjoy it. It’s fun and well written and, while maybe not a cinema watch, I would definitely recommend it.
