The Pickle (1993)

Harry Stone (Danny Aiello), a formerly top notch director, has had three disastrous movies in a row. Facing dismissal from the top perch of Hollywood and finacial ruin from back taxes, he ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writer:

Paul Mazursky

Stars:

Danny Aiello, Dyan Cannon, Clotilde Courau

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny Aiello	...	Harry Stone
Dyan Cannon	...	Ellen Stone
Clotilde Courau	...	Françoise
Shelley Winters	...	Yetta
Barry Miller	...	Ronnie Liebowitz
Jerry Stiller	...	Phil Hirsch
Chris Penn	...	Gregory Stone
Little Richard	...	President
Jodi Long	...	Yakimoto Yakimura
Rebecca Miller	...	Carrie
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Mike Krakower
Caroline Aaron	...	Nancy Osborne
Rita Karin	...	Grandmother
Linda Carlson	...	Bernadette
Kimiko Gelman	...	Patti Wong (as Kimiko Cazanov)

Storyline

Harry Stone (Danny Aiello), a formerly top notch director, has had three disastrous movies in a row. Facing dismissal from the top perch of Hollywood and finacial ruin from back taxes, he is forced to take on a very commercial and, he believes, ridiculous movie. Now as he faces the film's release and, he believes, another total flop which will complete his ruin, he meets up with his son and daughter and his former wives (which includes Dyan Cannon) to examine his life and his future. The film examines the turmoil a movie director goes through with a film release. His agent (Jerry Stiller) assures him that he has a hit, while those around him wince (as does the audience) at the thought of the movie within the movie. The movie is "The Pickle", a supposedly social satire where a bunch of super-white kids from Kansas take vegetables into space via a super cucumber and land on an Earth-like planet where everyone lives only on beef and die at age 49. As shown in the excerpts of the film, ...

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Plot Keywords:

pickle | agent | satire | ex husband ex wife relationship | failure | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a scene of sexuality and some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

36 horas en Nueva York

Filming Locations:

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

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Soundtracks

"Good Morning Heartache"
Written by Irene Higginbotham, Ervin Drake & Dan Fisher

User Reviews

Not totally bad...

It's hard to decide what to say about this one. It isn't totally, one hundred percent bad. Although the movie-in-a-movie is unspeakably bad, meant to be campy, but missing by a mile. I'm pretty sure that this is intentional, however. Danny Aiello is perfectly adequate here, and more or less nails his pathetic character. Dyan Cannon was good in a small role. Clotilde Courau was impressive as the latest twenty-something girlfriend. And Linda Carlson had a brave topless scene that she pulled off very well.

So, it's not totally bad, but I don't believe that this one accomplishes its goals. All in all, it's probably worth passing on.