Main Cast: Danny Aiello, Dyan Cannon, Clotilde Courau, Shelley Winters, Barry Miller, Jerry Stiller, Chris Penn, Ally Sheedy
Release Year: 1993
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Paul Mazursky directed this comedy, which blends a broad satire of the film industry with a thoughtful tale of a middle-aged man looking back on his life's failures. Harry Stone (Danny Aiello) is a film director who desperately needs a hit -- so desperately that he gets talked into directing an inane sci-fi film about a group of farm kids (led by Ally Sheedy) who grow an enormous pickle that they turn into a spaceship, allowing them to visit the planet Cleveland (ruled by Little Richard and his right hand man, Griffin Dunne) where everyone eats nothing but meat. Convinced that the film will flop, Harry is in a state of panic as he returns to New York with his Parisian girlfriend Francoise (Clotilde Courau), a mere 20 years his junior, and visits his ex-wife Ellen (Dyan Cannon); his mother Yetta (Shelley Winters); and his son Gregory (Chris Penn). Meanwhile Harry flashes back on his childhood and the film he could have made of it, and pitches his dream film (a historical epic about the life of Montezuma) to studio executives, who instead want him to make a movie kids can relate to. The Pickle was filmed in 1991, but only received a token theatrical release two years later. Actually, the sci-fi story with Little Richard as the undisputed ruler of Cleveland looks like it might have been an ideal vehicle for Edward D. Wood Jr.. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Jodi Long - Yakimoto Yakimura; Rebecca Miller - Carrie; Stephen Tobolowsky - Mike Krakower; Caroline Aaron - Nancy Osborne; Linda Carlson - Bernadette; Spalding Gray - Dr. Spalding; Paul Mazursky - Butch Levine; Griffin Dunne - Planet Cleveland Man; Isabella Rossellini - Planet Cleveland Woman; Dudley Moore - Planet Cleveland Man; Elya Baskin - Russian Cab Driver; Paul Bates - Kareem; Geoffrey Blake - Clem; Twink Caplan - Crying Woman; Robert Cicchini - Electronics Store Clerk; Steve Cody - Tractor Man; Caris Corfman - Young Yetta; J.D. Daniels - Young Harry; Ben Diskin - Little Boy 1945; Fyvush Finkel - Mr. Shacknoff; Arthur French - Car Man; Sol Frieder - Grandfather; Michael Greene - Mission Control Farmer; Castulo Guerra - Jose Martinez; Brent Hinkley - Farm Boy; Billy Jaye - FX Man; Rita Karin - Grandmother; Erik King - Man with Beer; Hap Lawrence - Gothic Man; Betsy Mazursky - Pharmacy Clerk; Davenia McFadden - Woman in Window; Andre Philippe - Mr. Aaronwitz; Patricia Place - Gothic Woman; Stephen Polk - Farm Boy; Sergio Premoli - Alberto; Sharrieff Pugh - Boy Who Also Stopped; John Rothman - Chauffeur; Michael Shulman - Young Butch; Brooke Smith - 1st A.D.; Tony Conforti - Crying Man in Candy Store; Michael Harris - David; Waldemar Kalinowski - Crying Man; Jill Mazursky - Tractor Woman; Joe Pecoraro - Doorman; Arthur Taxier - Father; Shani Ginsberg; Carrie Frazier; Eric Edwards - Farm Boy
Credit
John H.M. Berger - Art Director, Christopher Burian-Mohr - Art Director, James Hegedus - Art Director, Stuart H. Pappe - Co-producer, Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer, Paul Mazursky - Director, Stuart H. Pappe - Editor, Michel Legrand - Composer (Music Score), Gary Alper - Musical Direction/Supervision, James D. Bissell - Production Designer, Fred Murphy - Cinematographer, Paul Mazursky - Producer, Patrick McCormick - Producer, Dorree Cooper - Set Designer, Beth Kushnick - Set Designer, Jim Webb - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Mazursky - Screenwriter
