Weekend Watch: First Cow and An American Pickle

Let's be clear: the combination of First Cow and An American Pickle might be the most unlikely double feature ever devised. But in pandemic times, you watch whatever you can find, and that's what I did last Friday. These are two insanely different movies but at least one of them has to satisfy your itch for cinematic satisfaction. So are you looking for a spare and meditative western about two men in Oregon in the 1800s, or a bizarre comedy about a turn of the century Jewish immigrant who gets pickled in brine and re-emerges in present-day Williamsburg? Either way, I’ve got you covered!

First Cow: Written (with Jonathan Raymond, who wrote the novel the movie is based on), edited, and directed by Kelly Reichardt, this movie sneaks up on you. My main sentiment on finishing it was how I wished I had seen it in theaters, because this is the kind of slow, lush movie that is meant to be an immersive and absorbing experience, and not something that you distractedly watch while playing Candy Crush on your phone.

Set in 1820, it’s the story of Cookie (John Magaro), a cook who meets a Chinese man, King-Lu (Orion Lee) in the Oregon Territory. The two men team up and hatch a scheme based on Cookie’s excellent cooking skills and King-Lu's business acumen. They sell delicious biscuits for significant sums of money to the traders and trappers and other grimy men who are seeking their fortunes in Oregon but are also seeking a warm and delicious treat that reminds them of home. However, the magic ingredient in these biscuits is the creamy milk that Cookie gets by secretly milking the cow that belongs to the wealthy Englishman who recently moved to the settlement. This is the first and only cow in the area, and it’s a dangerous scheme to be stealing its milk like this, but the rewards seem to outweigh the risks.

First Cow is a mood piece. It is very quiet, with many long and languid scenes where not a lot happens. There is much excitement around the cow and the ensuing shenanigans, and the film does turn into a bit of a heist film, but at its core, it’s a deep movie about friendship, hardship, and the ingenuity that characterizes the American entrepreneurial spirit. Also, special shout-out to Eve, the cow that is the real star of the film (this was her first ever film role!). I have never wanted to drink a glass of milk more in my life than when watching this movie. And the line of folk waiting to get a biscuit reminded me of the line outside Dominique Ansel’s bakery to get a Cronut. While the setting of this film might be in the past and unfamiliar, the emotions and general capers feel just as relevant to the modern day, and it is a transporting and tranquil weekend watch.

An American Pickle: The one word I would use to describe this movie is, “cute.” Which you don’t imagine going into it, because the premise seems so utterly bizarre and ridiculous that you think it has to be a raucous, weird comedy. But instead, it turns out to have a rather heartfelt premise that sneaks up on you and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Seth Rogen plays Herschel, a Jewish immigrant who flees the Russian Cossacks and arrives in NYC in 1919 in search of a better life. He works at a pickle factory, and one day, in a freak accident, he falls into a vat of pickle brine. No one notices, and that happens to be the day the factory is shut down, so for the next century he is just slowly pickled in that vat, until in 2019, he is discovered, perfectly preserved and alive, a scientific miracle! He is released into the custody of his only surviving relative, his great grandson Ben (also played by Seth Rogen), who is a freelance app developer in Williamsburg. As you can imagine, it’s a challenge to explain to your pickled great grandpa what it means to be a freelance app developer. 

There’s a typical clash of the generations, and as things escalate, Herschel moves out and decides he is going to create his own pickle business. The jokes keep on coming, mocking Williamsburg and its hipsters, Jewish identity (for more Jewish humor, you should check out Seth Rogen's recent interview on WTF with Marc Maron, where the two men proceed to offend the entire nation of Israel), and the political and technological landscape of modern America. The movie is written by Simon Rich, based on a wonderful four-part story he wrote for the New Yorker in 2013 (even if you don't watch the film, I highly recommend reading the story), and the film wisely keeps its focus sharp and doesn’t wander off on too many tangents. In a breezy 89 minutes, we get a funny movie that mocks the sillier elements of how we live now, but also delivers a nourishing story about the importance of family, dealing with grief, and moving on with your life. Instead of broad shtick, Rogen delivers a splendidly nuanced performance, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets nominated for a Golden Globe. An American Pickle is a fun distraction, so figure out if you have HBO Max and give it a shot!