Seth Rogen’s AppleTV+ series The Studio pokes fun at Hollywood decision-makers, but looking back at his career reveals one or two movies that are just as silly as anything in the show. The Studio features cameos from plenty of big names in Hollywood, which is part of the show’s knowledgeable industry satire.
Most of Seth Rogen’s movies are comedies, many of which are mainstream hits with a broad appeal. This means that he has plenty of movies which sound ridiculous on paper, because this is all part of the joke. While some of his zaniest movies turn out to be duds, others are worth looking at twice.
An American Pickle Sounds Like One Of The Terrible Movies In The Studio
Rogen’s Weirdest Movie Flew Under The Radar
Seth Rogen has starred in plenty of movies with ridiculous concepts, like Sausage Party and The Interview, but An American Pickle might be the weirdest of them all. Rogen stars in a dual role as both a struggling app developer and his great-grandfather, who awakens after being preserved in pickle brine for a hundred years.
An American Pickle is a strange kind of time travel movie, but the idea of pickle brine taking the place of permafrost or chryosleep – more traditional sci-fi tropes – pushes it firmly into gimmick territory. Indeed, the film takes its pickle-centric concept to the limit, since Herschel Greenbaum is obsessed with pickles.
An American Pickle sounds exactly like the kind of absurd pitch that might be thrown around on an episode of The Studio, and it’s one that Matt Remick – Seth Rogen’s character – would probably approve, despite the fact that he thinks of himself as a true cinephile fighting against the modern studio system.
An American Pickle Isn’t As Bad As It Sounds
Rogen’s Strange Comedy Is Underrated
Although An American Pickle sounds completely absurd, this doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. It doesn’t try to take itself too seriously, and the goofy comedy ensures the premise actually works well. An American Pickle is a satire of modern life, so it’s not a bad thing for it to have an unusual angle.
An American Pickle works as a sort of culture-clash comedy, with Herschel Greenbaum acting bemused at his great-grandson’s life and the strange world he lives in. Herschel comes from a world in which people are direct and unashamed in the pursuit of their goals, while Ben Greenbaum’s world is characterized by nuance and coy misdirection.
Rogen gets a lot of laughs from his dual role as two men separated by a century, but An American Pickle has a disarmingly heartfelt center. There are some touching sentiments about family, in whatever form that may take in the modern world, as well as the common beats of the human experience that unite us all.
