American Pickle
HBOMAXIn his solo feature directorial debut, Brandon Trost delivers the unique and often bizzare An American Pickle. Following Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen), who in 1920 falls into a vat of pickles where he is preserved for 100 years before waking up in modern-day Brooklyn where he meets his one living relative, Ben Greenbaum (also Seth Rogen). Trost takes a leap of ambition. Trying to find relevant social commentary and emotional heart within a film with an absurd set up, Trost comes up with mixed results as the film continually finds openings for a deeper impact only to avoid taking advantage of them.
The biggest threat facing the modern comedy genre is the inability to be legitimately funny. Despite it often being the main purpose of many of these films, countless comedies fail to deliver on this basic goal. Seth Rogen, however, has been incredibly smart with the films he signs up to in recent years, providing some legitimately great comedic outings which An American Pickle also can be considered. At least up until the third act, the comedy in the film is not only effective and smart but it is inventive. The specifics of the plot might be extremely original, but the set up of having someone from the past getting transported to the modern-day world is not. There are multiple jokes that feel expected and mandatory, such as the character first discovering technology, but An American Pickle avoids most of these jokes, instead trying to find new situations to put the characters in which feels refreshing. This is not a film that is just going through the motions trying to be a cheap comedy with the standard jokes audiences would expect, instead it is trying to be something more, which is clearly felt.
Not only is this felt in the comedy, but it is felt in the drama. Both Herschel and Ben have gone through tremendous pain and their encounter sparks strong emotions for both; from Herschel having to accept the death of his wife to Ben remembering his late parents and struggling to find his place in the world, An American Pickle beautifully sets up an emotional depth that easily could have pushed the film to be one of the best of the year so far. Sadly, especially in the latter half of the film, instead of properly exploring these ideas, the film loses focus. In a matter nearly identical to that of 2017's The Insult, An American Pickle pits Herschel and Ben against each other and spends so much time trying to elevate the stakes between them that it fails to actually pay off any of the depth these characters have in any substantial matter. The ending also goes for too long, trying to get a few last jokes that sadly don't fit and feel like they could – and should – have been cut. The third act also makes the questionable decision to play into the comedic idea that being from 100 years ago, Herschel would have some problematic ideas – which felt like a clear mistake. Not only is this humor uncomfortable considering the current political situation the world is under, but it immediately makes the character the audience is supposed to root for a questionable moral figure. It is hard to get fully behind a character shouting sexist ideas and the film never takes the time to evaluate these ideas within the character in anything but a comedic light.
Where the screenplay might disappoint, another area where the film actually impressed would be in its technical elements. The cinematography from John Guleserian and overall visual style holds a unique grit to it that helped the film stand out with its own visual identity compared to most comedies. The music from Nami Melumad also stands out as entirely unique, with energetic jigs throughout that breaths the perfect type of life into the film. It also would be criminal to not mention the performances given by Seth Rogen. Where his recent works show that it is clear he could do the character of Ben in his sleep, the character of Herschel showcases a new side of Rogen which he succeeds in, and the chemistry between the two performances felt genuine.
An American Pickle had every piece of the puzzle to be something truly special, only to fumble due to a confused and lackluster screenplay. There are undeniable things to respect within the film and the first half is at least an effective comedy but, sadly, even that is lost by the end. In no way is it the worst film of the year, or really even bad, but definitely disappointing considering how easily it could have been something more.
