Sometimes, you see a movie title and begin to think about what the meaning could be behind it. While some are more difficult to pin down, others are quite simple. However, as clever as the title might be, the content behind it is of the greatest importance, evidently.
In keeping things “2020,” HBO now has HBO Max and they are continuing in the trend of premiering films directly for easy streaming. Presently, in his directorial debut, Brandon Trost (largely of cinematography fame) has unveiled “An American Pickle,” produced by the star of the movie, Seth Rogen (“Zeroville”) and Evan Goldberg (a regular collaborator with Seth Rogen), along with James Weaver. Meanwhile, the screenplay was written and adapted by Simon Rich (“The Secret Life of Pets”), who also wrote the original story that “An American Pickle” was based on.
The film gets off to a promising start. Over 100 years back, a native (Herschel Greenbaum) of a small, seemingly fictitious town in Eastern Europe/old Russia meets a woman, named Sarah, and begins a new life with her. As things unfold, they leave their homeland and immigrate to the United States. During this entire segment, the look is one of an old, 1:33 aspect ratio educational “short” and seems to really reflect the primary talents of the director. However, the first few minutes do not a great movie make, as Yoda might put it. By the way, if anyone happens to know what the term “schlupsk” could mean, there is likely an in joke for you in that, which totally went over my proverbial, Gentile head, in a manner of speaking.
One of the first things I took note of was the accent in which Rogen attempted to utilize for the character of Herschel. It is not as though it sounds unbelievable, but in my view, it is too obvious to be taken seriously, which then places it closer to the category of “silly and/or annoying,” much in the same vein of, say, Adam Sandler’s accent that he tried to use in “Waterboy.” When the character is so much a part of the story, it becomes a glaring issue, as I see it.
Something else that I wondered about, at least early on, was whether or not the story might have been based on something true, or even paralleled a true story in a historically fiction kind of way. By the time the film gets to the second act, however, that wonderment is put to bed for good. If you ever considered an alternative use for pickle brine, look no further than in this tale, but please, also, consider the source before trying anything drastic.
Forgive me for bringing up Sandler again, but Rogen pulled another similarity, in my mind, when he graced the screen as two, separate characters, who happen to look exactly alike, despite a century-gap of time. Yes, that is a nit-picky detail, but the point I am really trying to make is that, perhaps, Rogen would have been better off playing just one of these roles, instead of both, for the sake of the movie.
So, Herschel wakes up to a whole new environment, which is not a bad premise, theoretically. After all, “Demolition Man” did something very similar and made it work beautifully. Ben Greenbaum is, apparently, the last remaining relative to Herschel and lives in the same place in which he did. The usual “fish out of water” jokes and scenarios persist, but, eventually, the focus turns more toward the social media aspect of life that we have become so familiar with in this day and age.
It is not terribly clear which side of the fence the filmmakers are on when it comes to their positions on Free Speech and what the limitations could be (or should be), but I think that works in favor for this story because anyone, regardless of their supposed thoughts and feelings, is susceptible to scrutiny and dishing out extreme criticism.
In the end, there is hardly anything to salvage in this story, from where I sit. There was not much that I found super funny and I did not develop any real affection for any of the characters involved. I can see that no one was trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but as I have said often enough, HOW a film is made is more important than WHAT is made. In other words, I can overlook a lack of originality if the execution is serviceable, but I cannot concede a lack of both, simultaneously. Therefore, there is no way I can recommend “An American Pickle,” even if the title, itself, is clever, but I can readily admit that my opinion might be in the minority this time, as well.
Director: Brandon Trost
Screenwriter: Simon Rich
Cinematography: John Guleserian (“Trial by Fire”)
Starring: Seth Rogen, Sarah Snook as Sarah Greenbaum, Jorma Taccone as Liam, Kevin O’Rourke as Dane Brunt, Joanna P. Adler as Professor Kim Ecklund, Geoffrey Cantor as David Greenbaum, Carol Leifer as Susan Greenbaum, Marsha Stephanie Blake as Inspector Sanders and Liz Cackowski as Susan O’Malley
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release: August 6th, 2020
