Upon Venturing to America, an Immigrant Finds Himself in a New World…Twice

Seth Rogen in "An American Pickle"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Comedies like “Coming to America,” “Borat,” and “The Dictator” have shown the hilarity of having a character traveling to America and experiencing culture shock.  In such a scenario, it’s fun to watch the hilarious misunderstandings that such characters can fall into as they try to adjust to life.  

This is a situation that’s delved into for cinematographer Brandon Trost’s directorial debut, “An American Pickle,” a comedy that rides on the terrific dual performance of its lead, but doesn’t quiet muster up enough jokes that are befitting to its star.

Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen) and his wife, Sarah (Sarah Snook), are Jewish laborers who move from their village in Eastern Europe to Brooklyn in 1919.  After Herschel is given a job in a pickle factory, he falls into a vat of pickles as the factory closes and is brined for a century.  After waking up in 2019, he finds his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum (also Rogen), who decides to help his ancestor fit in with the time period and find success.

This dual performance allows Rogen to steer away from the stoner-persona that tends to come up in several of his characters.  He employs an Eastern European accent with ease for Herschel, while also portraying Ben as the funny, everyday guy that Rogen does so well at portraying.  However, it’s Herschel’s character that’s the more fun of the two to watch.  It gives Rogen a chance to do something that he hasn’t done before, bringing us a character that stands out from his others and is pretty much the main reason to check out this movie.

The acting in this movie pretty much all comes down to Rogen, but one memorable supporting cast member is Snook.  Despite her screen time all being in the first 10 minutes of the movie, she and Rogen exhibit an understated, yet terrific comedic chemistry in their brief time together.

The screenplay by Simon Rich, which is based on his 2013 short story, “Sell Out,” creates a fun premise, but mostly relies on the jokes that you would expect from a movie that deals with a fish-out-of-water story such as this, with most of the jokes revolving around Hershel’s adjustment to a world that seems alien to him.  There are chuckles here and there, but when you’re dealing with someone who has written for “Saturday Night Live” and created the hilarious and surreal television comedy, “Man Seeking Woman,” you can’t be faulted for expecting more.  Despite this, some credit should be given that, with a running time of just an hour and a half, Rich knows that this premise can only go so far.

While the movie as a whole isn’t too memorable, the first 10 minutes must be pointed out as being both funny and visually appealing.  The cinematography by John Guleserian utilizes a boxy image for this sequence, as well as giving these images faded corners, making this opening sequence one that evokes the feeling of looking at photos from long ago.  Given the humor and charm of this part of the film, you start to wish at some point that the movie was instead about these two characters trying to make it in America, instead of Herschel trying to adjust to the 21st century.

Trost, whose work before this film has been as a cinematographer, such as for acclaimed films like “This is the End,” “The Disaster Artist,” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” doesn’t quiet get a chance to show us his extent as a filmmaker and do much that’s creative after the visually appealing opening sequence.  And, while the movie tries to include some heartfelt moments between the two main characters, the tonal shifts don’t always work and are difficult to take seriously.

Despite “An American Pickle” not providing Trost with much of an occasion to see what he can do as a filmmaker, he still shows some signs of potential in the scenes of the movie that end up working.  And, with a better script, there’s confidence to be had for Trost turning out something memorable, a movie that can be deliciously funny, instead of one where it tastes fine when you first try it, but wouldn’t quite feel like experiencing it again.

Grade: B-