Seth Rogen gives a career best in this ravishingly off beat tale of triumph and tragedy, coupled with an evolved narrative that may leave you feeling completely complexed, for better or worse.
The film makes huge leaps between two completely different time periods, ranging from 1919 to present day. Starting off brilliantly with a quirky and hearty depiction of a jewish immigrant, ‘Herschel Greenbaum’ played by Seth Rogen. Who then experiences Tragedy when he daftly falls into a vat of pickles. A 100 years go by and he is alive, preserved perfectly by the Brines. His fellow love mate ‘Sarah Greenbaum’ (Sarah Snook) is deceased and he is left wondering the streets of Brooklyn. That is until he meets his grandson, ‘Ben Greenbaum’ (Seth Rogen). The two embark on a quest full of forgiveness and betrayal, consisting of a toxic clash of cultural ideologies, that is driven by greed. Its…
Seth Rogen gives a career best in this ravishingly off beat tale of triumph and tragedy, coupled with an evolved narrative that may leave you feeling completely complexed, for better or worse.
The film makes huge leaps between two completely different time periods, ranging from 1919 to present day. Starting off brilliantly with a quirky and hearty depiction of a jewish immigrant, ‘Herschel Greenbaum’ played by Seth Rogen. Who then experiences Tragedy when he daftly falls into a vat of pickles. A 100 years go by and he is alive, preserved perfectly by the Brines. His fellow love mate ‘Sarah Greenbaum’ (Sarah Snook) is deceased and he is left wondering the streets of Brooklyn. That is until he meets his grandson, ‘Ben Greenbaum’ (Seth Rogen). The two embark on a quest full of forgiveness and betrayal, consisting of a toxic clash of cultural ideologies, that is driven by greed. Its this relationship that will expose both their moral compasses.
This is one of the worst time periods to release a film. We have seen a great reduction in cinematic releases and a great increase in home entertainment, for obvious reasons. Although this film was release in Cinemas. This film was primarily released and distributed through HBO Max. Which on first impression seems like the perfect platform for distribution for this type of film. It has been reported that the film was intended on a HBO release but was pushed to a cinematic release which may have altered the films first version. Seth Rogen gives one of the most diverse performance in his career. This time he is faced with an amusing but challenging mission to play two leads which both have distinctly different characteristics. The end result is surprisingly excellent. Having said this, the film has helmed a rather impressive production crew. Starting off with writer, ‘Simon Rich’ who wrote Inside Out (2015) and more unusually is cinematographer ‘Brandon Trost’, who has lensed films such as The Disaster Artist (2017) and This is the End (2013). With only 1 writing credit to his name, he is responsible for the entire direction of the film. The opening 10 minutes showcases his unique visual style for storytelling. I admired the change in aspect ratio to provoke a more reflective and immersive depiction of 1919. As the narrative evolves, his imaginative lens weakens but only slightly as we are thrown into the streets of Brooklyn. The visual contrast of city life verses the career pursuits of an out of date immigrant worker results in at times a frustrating lack of visual coherency. However, I will delve deeper into this criticism.
A tale pact with friendship, betrayal and pickles……lots of pickles.
As stated in the intro, the film presents a thematic look at a clash of cultural ideologies that are relevantly placed in todays society. These themes are presented through social issues and perhaps provokes a demand for social change. There is commentary of the dangerous implications of heavy social media use, particularly in having controversial opinions that are associated with religion. As well as a cultural adaptation of Herschel Greenbaum. His struggle to adapt to modern times is presented as both humerous and challenging. However, Its his relationship with his grandson Ben Greenbaum that tackles the core aspects of the films thematic tale, which is betrayal and forgiveness. The viewer is asked to either forgive or prosecute our main characters on several occasions. This loopy moral narrative storytelling makes the film more engaging even when the film has gone beyond any rational ideological reasoning. The more touching theme this film presents is that of parenthood. Throughout the film there is an underlying narrative which is based of Ben Greenbaum’s parents who both die in car accidents. We are made to feel him and he feels that there is a legacy that he should live up to.
This film holds the heart it greatly endures and packs a plausible approach to an unlikely story. However, the films greatest criticism is its lack of subtlety in the manner it presents social issues. I believe there is a critical discussion of whether or not the film can successfully deliver authenticity within the scale for the social themes the film brings forward as it confidently portrays them on a bold scale, which may make you miss the visual subtlety of the opening ten minutes. This is the aspect that may leave a sour taste for audiences ….much like the taste of pickle, as it may detract from the otherwise charming story of two polar opposite characters, not only from a visual perspective but from a thematic level. Overall, the mode of this films ethos suits best for a home entertainment experience. However, At the moment, for the restricted releases you may get something from seeing it on the big screen. I give An American Pickle 3.5/5.
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