An American Pickle
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date (Streaming): August 6, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
17
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansAug 9, 2020
Millennial self-interest and performative liberal politics are contrasted with “authentic”, let-it-all-hang-out conservatism. It’s a simplistic critique. Still, the frequently charming Rogen brings enough of his affable, nice guy credibility to each character to ground both loose cannon Herschel and his straight man foil. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawAug 6, 2020
An American Pickle is a tasty, insubstantial snack of a comedy. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 6, 2020
The sliver of a plot sees An American Pickle stumble in its attempt to be a timely commentary, although its emotional underpinnings give the film a modest charm to relish. Read full review
60
UproxxMike RyanAug 5, 2020
An American Pickle is more interesting than laugh-out-loud hilarious. It’s introspective, without at all seeming that way. Read full review
60
Screen RantChris AgarAug 3, 2020
An American Pickle is a fun, fleeting buddy comedy that spreads its humorous premise a bit too thin, minimizing the story's impact. Read full review
60
EmpireAl HornerAug 3, 2020
Part time-travelling family drama, part idiosyncratic immigrant-adventure comedy, An American Pickle’s gags underwhelm, but its emotion and originality will surprise you. One of oddest films of 2020 so far, buoyed by two superb turns from Rogen. Read full review
58
TheWrapSteve PondAug 4, 2020
If you want a comedy that works hard to be touching, you might find that here – but honestly, you’d expect a movie about pickles (and a movie starring Rogen) to have more of a bite than this. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerAug 3, 2020
Rogen’s comedies have often layered broad laughs with humanity and thematic ambition. Here, like Herschel and Ben, they aren’t especially convincing sharing the frame. Read full review
55
CNNBrian LowryAug 6, 2020
This adaptation of Simon Rich's novella has some fun contemplating how the modern world would like to a 20th-century immigrant, before scraping the barrel for deeper themes. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 17, 2020
Most of the movie involves Rogen interacting with Rogen and this is problematic on a number of levels. First, neither version of Rogen has a good feel for the shifting tone of the movie. Secondly, without another human to play off, Rogen is frequently stiff. Or, to put it another way, he has zero chemistry with himself. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredMark BenedictAug 14, 2020
An American Pickle features an impressively committed Seth Rogen in dual comic roles, but the film lacks depth and urgency and isn’t nearly funny enough to make up for it. Read full review
50
ScreenCrushMatt SingerAug 5, 2020
There are good things in American Pickle, like two convincing (and occasionally moving) performances from Rogen. But they’re the equivalent of a couple cucumber scraps in a giant vat of salt water. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 5, 2020
Rogen does a remarkably fine job in creating two distinct characters. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 4, 2020
Still, a movie that even glancingly grapples with questions of ethnic and spiritual identity, past and present, is hardly hack work. It’ll do in a pickle. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 3, 2020
An American Pickle is the kind of movie that never quite decides what it wants to be. Pick a lane, as they say. Otherwise, you’re all over the place. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittAug 3, 2020
There are some scattered laughs but it's not particularly funny, and American Pickle is generally all over the place, aiming to be an abstract comedy about family and religion but losing its way trying to also poke fun at modern culture. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 3, 2020
Of course, the essence of the fish-out-of-water comedy is that it’s never been a realistic genre — it’s pure Hollywood fantasy. Yet An American Pickle, in its ethnically satirical and scattered way, lacks the integrity of its own ridiculousness. It’s pungent but flavorless: an unkosher dill. Read full review
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