AN AMERICAN PICKLE
A pro-family comedy that works better as an adult conversation than a family night.
Should You Watch It?
An American Pickle has a strong moral center. It values family over career success and highlights the importance of being present for relatives, honoring them, defending them, and wanting to make them proud. Jewish traditions, including a wedding ceremony and the Kaddish prayer, also shape the story.
The film’s concept is memorable, but the comedy falls short. Its content also includes foul language, violence, alcohol imagery, environmentalist elements, and statements hostile to Christianity, along with a few homosexual references.
Adults who can weigh those concerns may find worthwhile family themes here. For children and young teens, choose something else. The practical answer: watch it only if you are a discerning adult prepared for the content.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn 1919, Herschel Greenbaum, a Jewish ditch-digger in Poland, marries Sarah after falling in love with her. The couple emigrates to New York City, where Herschel works at a pickle factory and tries to build a future for his family.
A strange accident leaves Herschel separated from the world for a century. When he awakens in modern-day Brooklyn, he discovers that only one relative remains: his great-grandson, Ben. The two men must bridge an enormous generational gap while wrestling with what family honor means.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means an interesting but imperfect comedy. The premise of a man preserved in pickle brine for 100 years is unusual, though the review finds that it does not add much comic relief.
The film’s two principal characters are both played by Seth Rogan. He does a good job playing both roles, but the result can feel like a lot of one performer in a single movie. The central idea is inventive, yet the comedy does not consistently deliver.
The Worldview
The film’s strongest belief is that family matters more than what you do for a living. It celebrates being there for relatives, honoring them, defending them, and trying to make them proud. It also presents new life as a miracle and includes Jewish traditions such as the Kaddish prayer and a Jewish wedding ceremony.
The story also includes environmentalist ideas, including reducing waste and carbon emissions through ethical sourcing and reusable containers. Its treatment of gender roles and comments about women appear through a politically correct lens. More seriously, the film includes an anti-Christian comment about Jesus’ mother and mocks belief in Jesus, while also including an implied homosexual couple and references connecting homosexual behavior with Sodom and Gomorrah.
The film’s emphasis on family responsibility can prompt a biblical conversation. Scripture says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith” (1 Timothy 5:8).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral worldview of wanting to honor your family and make them proud through what you do, including a comment about family being more important than your business and always defending your family, Jewish elements of the Kaddish prayer recited multiple times, a Jewish wedding ceremony occurs, and new life is seen as a miracle, with some environmentalist elements, such as making an app that can tell if a company is ethically sourcing its products to reduce carbon footprint and make less waste, and one character makes pickles and insists on people bringing the jars back after use so he could reuse them, some politically correct element of gender roles and comments about women, and how they make food from their bodies and have babies, an Anti-Christian comment is made about Jesus’ mother being a prostitute, and if you believe in Jesus you’re a stupid idiot, and there’s an implied homosexual couple and comments are made about homosexuals participating in things that are against God and likened to Sodom and Gomorrah
Foul Language
10 obscenities, two profanities (OMGs), light name-calling, racial slurs against different ethnic and religious groups
Violence
Strong and light violence includes a group of people attack another group and blood is seen, man smashes rats to keep them out of a pickle factory, a fist fight occurs, one man punches another man in the face multiple times, and a character is chased by people as they throw things at him
Sex
Implied sexual intercourse between married couple as the wife becomes pregnant
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
Alcohol seen in a few scenes, but isn’t consumed, a vodka billboard is seen and eventually taken down, beer seen
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Racism, lying, envy, sabotage, revenge, and unintentional deceit.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Herschel believes family honor should shape how a person lives. What does Scripture say our responsibilities are toward our relatives, and how can we show that honor in ordinary life?
1 Timothy 5:8 · Romans 12:10The film places family above business success. How should Christians think about work, ambition, and the people God has entrusted to them?
Matthew 6:19–21 · Mark 8:36The story includes Jewish traditions and references to new life as a miracle. How can gratitude for family and life point us toward the Creator?
Psalm 127:3 · James 1:17The film makes hostile comments about Jesus. How should we respond when entertainment mocks Christian belief?
1 Peter 3:15–16 · Colossians 4:5–6The Final Word
An American Pickle offers a sincere pro-family message and an unusual premise, but its comedy is uneven and its content is not suitable for children or young teens. Discerning adults may find something to discuss, but families should choose another movie. WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY.
