An American Pickle

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HBO Max arrives to become one more proof of how vital streaming has been to new filmmakers and writers all around the world. An American Pickle is the very first original film released by the respective service, and it gives the opportunity to Brandon Trost (solo directorial debut) and Simon Rich (feature film screenplay debut) to demonstrate their talents. Despite my curiosity about what they could offer, my eyes were obviously focused on Seth Rogen’s double performance. Even though he’s not the greatest living actor, I always enjoy his comedic roles, most recently in Long Shot and The Lion King. Possessing a premise with tremendous potential to deliver amazing laughs, how did it go?

Well, I’m surprised by how grounded and “realistic” Trost and Rich’s approach ends up being. In the first twenty minutes, everything points to a straight-up ridiculous story where the most absurd things occur. Basically, I love every single thing until the title card shows up plus a few more minutes. Herschel’s life goals, his relationship with her lover, what leads to him getting brined for a century, the (technically brilliant) “scientific” justification that they give after he’s found out to be alive and that he didn’t age a day… Everything is ludicrous, but what would you expect from the already crazy premise?

Never forget: having the wrong expectations (unrealistic, overhyped, nonsensical) can quickly turn your experience into a nightmare. An American Pickle has an absurd narrative because it develops an absurd concept. That’s what’s so incredibly entertaining about it: the possibilities are infinite as long as the people at the helm are creative enough. This is why I feel somewhat disappointed that primarily Rich couldn’t take this story even further, both character and story-wise. In fact, as soon as the end credits started to roll, my first thought was “is it over already?...

'An American Pickle' feels like a film with so much potential, but potential that is never fully embraced. It isn't the job of a reviewer to say what a film SHOULD have been, but to offer a critique of the film they're actually seeing. In that spirit, the problem with 'An American Pickle' is that there are really two films here jostling for dominance. Personally, the heartfelt comic fable about two generations of Jewish men finding a new place for themselves in the world while dealing with their grief is the film I was rooting for out of the two, not of two snarky men trying to find new ways to bring each other down. As it stands, 'An American Pickle' has an uneven flavour, where the many ingredients don't entirely come together.

• Daniel Lammin

Read Daniel's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-an-american-pickle-an-uneven-comedy-that-hasnt-quite-fermented-enough

it is the trailer first caught me, I love the idea of an outdated man being overwhelmed by the modern world and struggle to adjust for nowadays life crises. the world must be so bizarre in his eyes but still much better than one hundred years ago (since we had made a long way).

....and I found the average score is not even made the pass line, I'm very hesitated. but the intro said it's an adaption of an NYT novel, so that must be worth something.

it's actually not bad to watch.

sure the scriptwriter chooses the easy way out and not dressed most of the modern-day problems, but you can feel his sincereness about the story. the movie does not express well but you get the "family matters most" the main idea.

and Seth Rogen is sooo cute in both characters. I mean don't you just wanna look straight into his sparkling eyes, rub his face and hug him like hugging a huge teddy bear?

it's not the preaching with laughs movie I've been expected, but it's ok to watch for idle Sundays

This movie stars Seth Rogen in a dual role as Herschel, an early 20th century Eastern European Jewish immigrant, and Ben, his last remaining descendant. To paraphrase a Family Guy episode, Seth Rogen looks funny even when he's not doing anything funny. Why, then, is An American Pickle, so unfunny (I laughed exactly one (1) time)? My theory is that two Rogens cancel each other out. My other theory is that the makers were going for a circa early-to-mid 70s Woody Allen-style film; Sleeper and Love and Death come to mind. The problem is that Allen himself stopped making that kind of movies about half a century ago (and even he had the good sense to use cryopreservation in Sleeper, which at least sounds sciency, as opposed to a brine-preserved body).

Much of what passes for conflict here stems from a billboard advertising vodka that has been erected adjacent to Herschel and Ben’s family plot. The former is determined to buy the billboard, which Ben says costs $200,000, and tear it down. The billboard, mind you, is facing the cemetery and not the street (and it’s established that Ben hasn’t visited the plot in at least five years, so not even he has seen the vodka advertisement). Why this billboard – which makes about as much sense as the ones in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – can be so costly and at the same time so worthless, is never explained.

Another good question is, what are the odds that Herschel and Ben, separated by a hundred years and several generations of (one hopes) exogamy, could pass for identical twins? Not good, especially when they look at old family photos and we see that none of Herschel's descendants look anything like him or Ben. The only reason for this genetic anomaly is that the script requires a case of mistaken identities during the climax of the film. That's it.

Wracking my brains to find a good reason for this film to exist, it occurred to me to interpret it as an allegory of Donald Trump’s rise to power. After all, Hers...

(CASTELLANO) Encurtido en el tiempo es una comedia bastante tonta, pero también tiene algo simpático. Parte de una idea absurda —un inmigrante queda conservado durante cien años en una cuba de encurtidos y despierta en el Brooklyn actual— y la lleva con una mezcla de humor bobo, choque generacional, ternura familiar y un punto de mala leche. No es una gran película, pero se ve con agrado.

Lo mejor está en el contraste entre los dos personajes de Seth Rogen. Herschel viene de otro mundo: es bruto, antiguo, trabajador, cabezota, lleno de prejuicios y con una idea muy primaria de la familia, el honor y el esfuerzo. Ben, su bisnieto, es justo lo contrario: moderno, inseguro, tecnológico, solitario y perdido en una vida mucho más cómoda, pero también mucho más vacía. La película funciona cuando enfrenta esas dos formas de entender el mundo.

Hay chistes que salen bien precisamente por lo simples que son. El choque entre un hombre de principios del siglo XX y la sensibilidad actual da para momentos graciosos, algunos bastante tontos y otros con más mala idea. La película se ríe de la nostalgia, de la modernidad, de las redes, de los emprendedores, de la corrección social y también de esa tendencia a convertir cualquier cosa en identidad, ofensa o negocio.

Seth Rogen sostiene casi todo. No siempre parece estar en una comedia perfectamente afinada, pero tiene timing y sabe dar humanidad incluso a una premisa disparatada. Herschel podía haber sido solo una caricatura, y Ben solo otro millennial triste de manual, pero entre los dos aparece algo más interesante: una historia sobre familia, raíces, herencia y la dificultad de reconciliarse con lo que uno ha perdido.

El problema es que Encurtido en el tiempo no siempre sabe qué película quiere ser. A ratos parece una sátira bastante ácida; a ratos, una comedia sentimental sobre el duelo familiar; a ratos, una fábula absurda sobre identidad judía, capitalismo y choque cultural. Esa mezcla tiene gracia, pero también se...