Rent An American Pickle (2020)

Poor showing from an old idea - An American Pickle review by AB

The concept has been done better (eg Sleeper) and this was poor - making more of what he thought of modern day society may have made it funnier and too often there was too much of a leap of knowledge by someone who would barely understand electricity never mind cars, aeroplanes, the internet etc etc without being intimidated, intrigued, bemused by it all to make the film actually 'believable' as an entity. Nothing was funny. Watch only to say that you have seen it.

Very enjoyable + funny time-slip comedy. GREAT FUN! Good Jewish comedy. - An American Pickle review by PV

I read a couple of the reviews here who hated it and suspect the reviewers are too pofaced snowflake wokie to GET Jewish humour. It is NOT racist; it is caricature WHICH IS NOT THE SAME THING AT ALL.

Unlike most Hollywood comedies, esp the awful black-centric 'comedies' and the metoo ones, this film REALLY made me laugh. Yes, it's silly - but so what? Silly is good when you're in the mood. The ending's a bit weak BUT compared to the usual unfunny Hollywood movie 'comedies; this is great.

A happy fantasy which some lines that mane me laugh out loud! Seth Rogan is great as the 1920 immigrant from fictional East European country too (could be Ukraine or Moldova or anywhere like that).

Good simple fun. Great caricature. I HATED 'Knocked up' and some other Seth Rogan films BUT this is one of his best. IF you are not a po-faced puritan wokie who sees caricature and satirical comedy as racism, that is.

A great MARMALADE song in there too. REFLECTIONS.

Comedy of culture clash - An American Pickle review by Martyn

Far better than I was led to believe from these reviews. Very funny. Obviously there is potential for humour in the mutual incomprehension of cultures 100 years apart, and this movie taps into that. At first it takes the piss out of the left with their knee-jerk reactions to attitudes from an Eastern European village a century ago (and those attitudes themselves), then, when the right rally behind him, it mocks them too, and finally he pisses everybody off including them with remarks about Christianity. Disturbing that anyone could dismiss this as 'racist'. Not sure whether they're being anti-semitic, or seeing the film as anti-semitic, or seeing some other form of racism, they need to explain themselves.

Whimsical and Strange Film - An American Pickle review by CD

I nearly switched this off after 30 mins as I found the film wandering into a farce.  I am glad I stuck with it as in spite of some offensive and politically incorrect language the acting is very strong and there is a good vein of humour running through it.  The film is also quite moving at times in the emphasis on family but is satisfyingly unpredictable in its plot which leads to unexpected turns and an interesting and good ending.

Disappointing & Clichéd Comedy - An American Pickle review by GI

A 'fish out of water' comedy that makes little sense, is somewhat trading in clichéd jokes and is trying to say something about the woke culture and modern day America's issues with immigration. In 1919 Eastern European Jew Herschal emigrates with his wife to the USA. One day, working in a pickle factory, he falls into a pickle vat and somehow (it's never given any explanation) is preserved, alive, for 100 years emerging into modern day New York. Surprisingly, after a little media interest, he attracts no attention despite this miracle, and goes to live with his App designer great grandson, Ben (both played by Seth Rogen). Then there's a series of incident sand episodes of the Herschel failing to understand the modern world, which is poorly explained by Ben. So he becomes a sort of Borat without the laughs or a Crocodile Dundee, indeed the picking storyline becomes redundant and he could just as well have been an immigrant from the back of beyond who tries to fit in a new country. Herschel gets into some scrapes, causes Ben lots of problems, they fall out etc etc, eventually reconcile and it's all a happily ever after ending. It has some funny moments and there's no doubt Rogen has some fun in the two roles but ultimately it's a film with a plot you can drive a bus through. The best thing about it is Sarah Snook as Herschel's wife and she's only in the film for a little bit, a pity because otherwise it's a disappointing film.

Mushy - An American Pickle review by HM

A few early laughs then a sentimental soap. Goes downhill from about 40 minutes in and never recovers. Give it a miss.

Dismal - An American Pickle review by KF

How do films this bad even get released? If this film in any way engages your interest, you need therapy!