[Review] An American Pickle(2020) {6.5/10}

Directed by Brandon Trost from a screenplay by Simon Rich, the film stars Seth Rogen (Herschel Greenbaum), Sarah Snook (Sarah Greenbaum), Jorma Taccone (Liam), Geoffrey Cantor (David Greenbaum) and Carol Leifer (Susan Greenbaum). Based on "Sell Out" by Simon Rich, the film follows Herschel Greenbaum(Seth Rogen), an immigrant U.S. worker in 1919 who endures hard times. He marries the girl of his dreams, Sarah(Sarah Snook) and lands a job of clubbing rats in a pickle factory. He accidentally falls into a pickle vat while chasing rats after which the factory is closed down. One hundred years later, Herschel is discovered perfectly preserved. He learns that he has a great grandson, Ben(also Seth Rogen) who is an app designer and lives in Brooklyn.

Herschel then goes to live with Ben where he discovers a lot of new stuff and Ben guides him through everything. Herschel discovers Greenbaum's family album where he learns about his Son, Wife and Grandson. They visit Sarah's grave and Herschel is incensed by a billboard. He ties to cut it down but he and Ben are arrested which is why Ben fails to sell his app. They fight and Herschel storms off to start his own pickle business(using what he can find in the trash) while Ben tries to sabotage his work.

Rogen nailed it. His Herschel starts out as a bit of a caricature with his comic Eastern-European accent. Ben had no family member left so when he found Herschel he invited him to stay with him. He is kind and hopeful. The fish-out-of-water jokes and family feud jokes were enough to sustain a feature length movie. An American Pickle is a beautiful family reunification story. At some parts it feels like a hit-and-miss but Rogen's amazing double performance saved the movie. An American Pickle is like a pickle itself i.e. 'A little sour and a little sweet but offers enough crispy, crunchy giggles to make it worth a look.

'An American Pickle' is now available to stream on HBO Max.