Seth Rogen’s latest film, An American Pickle, finds him in a double role. He plays a Jewish man in the present, as well as his grandfather who gets frozen in a pickle factory in his time and is defrosted in a Captain America-like manner. Finding himself in a new and different era, he decides to meet his grandson leading to a funny yet emotional story. It reinterprets Rogen’s ideas on how would our ancestors perceive us if they existed at the same time as us.
An American Pickle had been receiving polarising reviews, but it goes on to show Seth Rogen’s versatility and attempts to break away from his generic stoner comedy stereotypes. Here are a few other cinematic picks that deal with similar premises as this comedy-drama.
Look Who’s Back
This German comedy-drama is a profound satirical take on the infamous dictator Adolf Hitler which imagines a situation where he comes back to life in present-day Germany. Instead of being terrified, the people around him see him as a Hitler impersonator and cheer on for his accurate “mimicry,” turning him into a local celebrity. His hateful speeches are seen as comedic monologues by his audiences.
Leading man Oliver Masucci is in full form with his hilarious yet emotional act as Hitler. In fact, many of the film’s scenes were unscripted vignettes of him interacting with ordinary German citizens not breaking character.
Idiocracy
Mike Judge’s cult hit Idiocracy feels like a dumb no-brainer on the surface, but, deep down, it’s a biting satire that might surprisingly hold true for the not-too-distant future. Idiocracy finds a simpleton who’s chosen for a military project. He gets trapped in what seems like a human time capsule and awakens 500 years later to face a new America.
The protagonist becomes the smartest person in this new world of idiocracy, which is quite the madhouse driven by excessive consumerism, illiteracy, languages replaced by gibberish, and a president who has just gone plain mad. Judge’s film is still praised with modern viewers finding the film to be quite relevant to the current times when our media and politics tend to be undergoing reverse evolution.
Nebraska
Nebraska, as its title suggests, is a comedy-drama that focuses on a road trip to Nebraska. Will Forte plays a gloomy who travels with his estranged, aged parents, Bruce Dern and June Squib at their career-best. Dern’s character, an old alcoholic initiates the trip in order to claim a money prize in Nebraska.
Like many other family dramas directed by Alexander Payne, Nebraska is high on emotions, even if the premise and the situations that the characters find themselves in are quite simplistic. The bittersweet nature of the film is further accelerated with the usage of a monochrome black and white tone for the entirety of the film.
Kate & Leopold
Meg Ryan and a young Hugh Jackman star in this fantasy comedy about time travel and good old romance. Leopold, an 18th-century duke from Albany and Kate, an ambitious executive in the 21st century are facing their own issues with regard to social expectations and career.
However, when Leopold accidentally reaches modern-day New York, he decides to strike up an old-school chivalrous romance with Kate which forms the crux of the film, giving viewers a typical cheesy yet heartwarming romcom from the early 2000s. Just like how a grandad and grandson bond in An American Pickle, Leopold gets his scenes to bond with his great-grandson, a physicist who caused all the time travel played by Jackman’s future Wolverine co-star Liev Schreiber.
Back To The Future
An iconic film for all ages, Back To The Future finds the overly enthusiastic scientist Doctor Brown experiment with time travel eventually causing his teenage protege Marty McFly to go back in time. What follows is an amusing series of misadventures as McFly encounters the high school versions of his parents.
Now, it’s his responsibility to ensure that they fall in love so as to restore the timeline and ensure his return to the past. The film was quite ahead of its time, and rightfully so, as countless films in the future have tried replicating its formula of blending time travel with family themes.
Encino Man
Like its Neanderthal protagonist, Encino Man is surely not an intellectually strong film, but it makes for a fun 90s throwback and is reminiscent of a time when Brendan Fraser was quite relevant.
Fraser stars as a defrosted caveman nicknames “Link” who’s taught manners of modern society by two bumbling teenagers. As Link picks up his new-age habits, the teens’ social standing also improves at school. Heavy on gags and cliches, Encino Man makes for quite a nice and simple guilty pleasure.
Life
A central story arc in An American Pickle is how the grandfather character adjusts with changing times. Life shows how time changes for two men, but they themselves hardly get to change, as they are falsely imprisoned for life.
Even though stars Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence were quite popular back in the day, this film somehow seems to be pretty underrated. While some of its humor might seem dated, Life is a moving comedy-drama that explores themes of racism, unlawful arrests, and, most importantly, the power of a good friendship. The film spans over several decades, with Murphy and Lawrence’s characters growing old and closer as friends, their bond serving as an escape mechanism from the monotony of life as an inmate.
17 Again
17 Again is a somewhat normal coming-of-age story with a twist. A pre-pubescent Zac Efron stars as a younger version of a man who gets a chance to live like a teenager all over again, both literally and metaphorically.
It somewhat feels like the Tom Hanks-led Big—that has a similar plot, but reversed—and, while it doesn’t match the legacy of Big, 17 Again is a warm film that stands its own ground despite the trappings of its genre. The supporting cast with other popular comedy actors of the time like Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, and Matthew Perry add to the feel-good vibes of this teen comedy.
Pleasantville
What if you get a chance to live in a TV show? That’s the central question that Pleasantville seems to answer. The central characters are twin siblings (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon), who get trapped in a 1950s serial. Instead of panicking, they start enjoying their new life as out here, everything seems perfect… until their extended stay complicates this wonderland.
It might sound like a kiddish fantasy film, but Pleasantville is a pretty deep study into human behavior and values, yielding several themes that the viewers can ponder upon. That being said, it has its light-hearted moments, too, which couple well with the social commentary on how the past can be viewed as both a Utopian and a dystopia.
Big Fish
This film can be dubbed as Tim Burton’s version of Forrest Gump. Big Fish starts off with an ailing grandfather connecting with his grandson and his fiance with stories of his glorious past. It turns out that the old man (Albert Finney), had lived quite a life as a young man (Ewan McGregor) fighting in the war, marrying the woman he loved, and many other tales that hardly sound true to anyone.
Brimming with magical realism and Burton’s typical quirks, the film explores whether the grandfather’s tales are actually true or not. Towards the end, it’s up to the viewers to figure out the truth. Finally, what matters is the importance of stories and how fantasy is an essential part of life to make it seem a little less mundane.
