A preposterous, too-mild but ultimately affecting little movie starring Seth Rogan as a 21st century Brooklyn app developer and…his great grandfather, who’d immigrated to America a hundred years ago, fallen into a huge vat of pickle brine…and revived in the present day.
As I said – preposterous – but at ninety minutes with an entertaining performance by Rogan as the immigrant Herschel (and a duller performance by Rogan as the great-grandson Ben – which I don’t think is just a character factor. Herschel is broader and has a great accent and energy and was probably easier to play) – fun to watch. There’s a bit of sharp humor about social media, cancel culture and the easy life and lifestyle the 21st century guy takes for granted that’s shockingly luxurious to the peasant – all of which could have used even more sharpening. The piece could also have used a more surreal air, but maybe I think that because we’d just watched Brazil.
But yes, the end is affecting and actually very religious. Very.
For you see the point of the whole thing is – it’s really not a good idea to turn your back on your past. Not on your heritage – which is a part of you, so in hating that, you’re hating a part of yourself – or on your own recent family history. Our wholeness and our flourishing is rooted in accepting how our heritage and family history has formed us, and then engaging with the present with energy and courage.
And when a piece like this turns on an unbelieving character being a bad spot, then saying to a random person, “I need help – can you tell me where to go for help?” – and that random person points to the synagogue, and finally peace is found in praying in the ancient language, linking the living to the dead to God – well, that lends another layer for consideration for those who have ears to hear.
