(News)
– Seth Rogen is on double duty An American Pickle, a family and heritage story by first-time director Brandon Trost and writer Simon Rich, on which the film’s short story is based. Premiere on HBO Max follows the beginnings of a 20th-century Polish-Jewish immigrant and pickle factory worker who falls into a dome of brine and appears perfectly preserved in present-day Brooklyn, where his grandmother lives. . Critics are generally on board, giving the film a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Four takes:
- “Sometimes a logically unforgettable premise is the only thing that makes life seem logical,” Stephanie Zacharek writes. She calls the film ‘delightful’, in large part by Rogen. He “has a great sense of Jewish humor, of the lingering rhythms and his joy, but also of his gloom,” and he “can carry the serious threads of the film as well,” she adds. Time.
- “It’s nice to see him flex and stretch against himself. He’s not getting enough credit for his more serious turns and this is a nice showcase overall,” Lindsey Bahr wrote to the AP. She gives the film 2.5 stars out of four, claiming it has “some good gags and a ridiculous amount of heart,” even if “the benevolent distortion of millennial DIY culture feels a bit dated.”
- Richard Brody, however, was not amused. “Rogen’s comic career is dominated by an ethical focus, even an ethical obsession, which, in the desire to convey good values with good humor, has lost its herb, its risk, its sense of human problems,” “he writes at the New Yorker. “As a result, his comedy has become filtered, replacing a broad purview and the possibility of wild emotion and loose endless impulse with schticky tropics.”
- The film has a strong start, but strains then, according to Brian Lowry. “A patch of Jew … [is] forced to consider his inheritance by his exposure to his ancestor, a pious man. However, the film is simply too scattered, to make much of it, or indeed, to attach it to a consistent tone and stick to the threads, “he writes at CNN.” In the process, the film mostly ruins a pretty impressive performance by Rogen. “
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