Release date: August 6
Cast: Seth Rogen, Maya Erskine, Sarah Snook, Eliot Glazer, Jorma Taccone
Director: Brandon Trost
Age rating: PG-13
Run time: 1 hr 29 min
Rotten Tomatoes: 74%
Seth Rogen fans will see double when they watch An American Pickle on HBO Max, which is streaming right now. The movie, which debuted on August 6, stars Rogen in dual roles — and he's already getting great reviews for his performances.
An American Pickle follows Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling Ashkenazi worker who emigrates from his shtetl to America in 1920. He dreams of building a better life for himself and his family. While working at his factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles and is preserved for 100 years.
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When he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, Herschel — who hasn't aged a day — looks for his family. But he's horrified to meet his only surviving relative, great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum, a mild-mannered computer programmer whom Herschel can’t even begin to understand.
An American Pickle also stars Maya Erskine (PEN15), Sarah Snook (Succession) and Jorma Taccone (Lonely Island). The movie was originally set to be released theatrically by Sony, but it was sold to Warner Bros., which then slated it for its new streaming service.
Here's everything you need to know about how to watch An American Pickle. Check out the trailer below:
How to watch An American Pickle anywhere, with a VPN
Just because HBO Max isn't available everywhere doesn't mean you need to miss An American Pickle if you're away from home. Watching along with the rest of the internet can be pretty easy. With the right VPN (virtual private network), you can stream the show from wherever you go.
We've evaluated many options, and the best VPN is ExpressVPN. It meets the VPN needs of the vast majority of users, offering outstanding compatibility with most devices and impressive connection speeds. It's also affordable at $12.95 per month. (Signing up for longer periods of six months or a year reduces the cost even more.)
- Not in the US? Here's how to watch HBO Max from anywhere
How to watch An American Pickle in the US
You can watch An American Pickle on HBO Max right now, as it dropped earlier today (August 6). Of course, you're gonna need a device that supports HBO Max, which can be annoying since the app isn't available on Roku or Fire TV.
HBO Max is on Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, Android and Android TV, Chromecast, Playstation 4 and Xbox One, as well as Samsung TVs from 2016 and later.
How to watch An American Pickle in Canada
Even though HBO Max isn't in Canada, An American Pickle is streaming right now on Crave.
How to watch An American Pickle in the UK and Australia
An American Pickle is getting a theatrical release in the UK and Australia, so Brits and Aussies can head to their local screens.
Americans abroad should check out a VPN service such as ExpressVPN to try it out.
An American Pickle reviews
The reviews for An American Pickle are mixed, though most critics are giving star Seth Rogen positive notice for his dual roles. Here's a roundup of American Pickle reviews:
New York Times: "An American Pickle is swift and nimble enough to avoid weighing itself down with schmaltz. It’s almost too thin to sustain its premise for the running time — a scant 90 minutes — and sometimes feels more like a stretched-out sketch than a fully developed feature."
Rolling Stone: "... the sudden shifts in tone and the arid dead spots give this movie a shapelessness that challenges your attention instead of rewarding it."
Vulture: "Having to pony up for a ticket to An American Pickle would have almost certainly made it feel inadequate as a viewing experience, but with the lower barrier to entry of streaming, its modest pleasures are able to outweigh its minor miscalculations, and the fact that it occasionally plays like a prolonged sketch feels more forgivable."
Time: "The good news for you and for me, my fellow wan Victorian orphans, is that An American Pickle is a real movie, and it’s delightful. Sometimes a logically indefensible premise is the only thing that makes life seem logical."
