An American Pickle

An immigrant named Herschel Greenbaum toils at a Brooklyn pickle factory with old country resolve and a stubborn faith in a better future for his family. During a tunnel mishap in the plant, he is trapped in brine and unexpectedly preserved for a century. He awakens in a bustling, noisy Brooklyn that looks nothing like the world he left. His only surviving relative turns out to be his great grandson Ben, a cautious computer coder who speaks in memes and avoids the kind of hard won lessons Herschel carries. The meeting of two eras yields awkward humor and unexpected tenderness as a shared stubbornness becomes a bridge between a distant past and a modern present.

Directed by Brandon Trost and adapted from Simon Rich's work, the film pairs Rogen's dual performance with a pitch that blends satire and sentiment in a contemporary Brooklyn setting.

The film touches on immigration, family memory, and technology with a wry tone. It sparked conversations about cultural assimilation and the friction between old world values and new age pragmatism, offering a humanist angle amid broad comedy.

Critics described the movie as warm but uneven, praising the central gag of a present day man colliding with past sensibilities while noting tonal swings. It leans into themes of family, memory, and the pull between tradition and progress.