American Splendor (2003) Reviews

• creative biopic

  Buddy-512004-03-27

  In `American Splendor,' Paul Giamatti plays Harvey Pekar, the comic book creator who became famous as a recurring guest on the David Letterman Show. A resident of Cleveland, Pekar was a socially backward man who found he had the talent to translate the pain, loneliness and frustration of his own unhappy life into universal truths, writing material that other artists would then illustrate in comic book form. He began a series entitled `American Splendor,' which was really an ongoing autobiographical narrative, drawing on people and events in his own life as his source of inspiration. The film, a pseudo-documentary of sorts, tells his life story by cutting back and forth between both staged reenactments of the events in the stories and interviews with Pekar himself commenting on those events. `American Splendor' is an offbeat little gem that, in many ways, approximates the look and style of a comic book. As the story plays itself out, captions often appear on the screen, as well as illustrations from Pekar's actual work based on the scene we are witnessing. Robert Pulcini and Sheri Springer Berman, who wrote and directed the film together, create a surrealistic tone by having Pekar and his real friends and companions frequently appear on screen next to the actors who are portraying them (some of them dead ringers for the originals). This technique brings a homespun, homey sweetness to the film. `American Splendor' is a paean to all the social misfits in the world, people who, for whatever reason, can't seem to fit into society's prescribed mold but who often develop strong, meaningful bonds with similar individuals. The movie is also a tribute to the power of art, both for the artist who finds purpose and release through his work and for those to whom his work speaks on a personal and emotional level. The people who inhabit Pekar's strange world – both in reality and within the borders of his comic strip boxes – are seen in the film as warm, good-natured individuals, not socially astute, perhaps, but not losers either. The emotional focal point for the film is Harvey's relationship with his wife, Joyce, beautifully played by Hope Davis. Despite the somewhat bizarre nature of their marriage, Harvey and Joyce forge a lasting commitment based on reciprocity and devotion. In fact, in the latter sections, the film achieves an emotional depth one doesn't expect it to early on, partly because Harvey is dealt a cruel blow of fate that he and his wife are forced to navigate through together. Yet, the film as a whole is filled with a sly, deadpan, mischievous sense of humor that demonstrates a keen grasp of the absurdities of life. As Pekar, Paul Giametti turns in a flawless performance, capturing the nebbishness, cantankerousness and ultimate likeability of the man he is portraying. In both style and content, `American Splendor' is aptly named.

• A True Super-Hero!

  departed072005-01-30

  Throughout the years, people have read dozens of comic books: Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, The Green Latern, X-Men, Hulk, etc., looking for escape from reality, but at the same time, looking for a relation from those books. With "American Splendor" on the other hand, it's quite a different comic book. What makes it so special? It's depicting real life where it shows the character Harvey Pekar in different situations. "American Splendor" is a comic/drama biography about the life of Harvey Pekar(Played by Paul Giamatti) in which the film plays like a comic book showing scenes that are real and fiction. Even the real Harvey makes appearances quite often in the film to talk about his life, his wife(Joyce) and everything that sort of made him the person who he is today. Harvey Pekar can be described as one of those characters who don't seem to give a damn about the world. The reason that I root for this character is that he's the type person that lives in his own world, from not giving a crap about the incidents in the world, to not having a formal college education, to working at a dead end job where in the future, people are still laughing at him. And yet, I don't blame him. I am reminded of two other movies that had losers, but made an impact on male society: "The Big Lebowski" and "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" in which both male characters didn't have to worry about anything or go out on dates, or even pleasing society(shame on you, people). All in All, American Splendor is a great movie. Though the film's target audience are for guys, I still encourage people to see this movie. The film also stars, Hope Davis portraying Harvey's wife, Joyce. One of the Best Films!

• American brilliance

  jotix1002003-09-09

  I must confess that I was a bit apprehensive in going to see this film. I thought it would be one of those movies that are hyped to the max by the adoring critics, but that it would turn out to be a darling of the reviewers and not the great film everyone was making it to be. Well, I was thoroughly surprised by the brilliant film making shown by the directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. They have created a film that works in different levels. First, it is the story of Harvey Pekar told in cinematic terms. Secondly, by presenting the real Harvey Pekar to speak to the camera as he is interviewed, it adds another dimension about the directors' vision in bringing him to us to tell us in his own words, that yes, there is a real person whose life we are getting to know. And thirdly, it works as the weird comic strip that Harvey Pekar might have conceived in his mind. Harvey Pekar is an example of a strange man who lives and functions within the American society, yet, for all practical purposes, he is in his own little world of collecting books and records and writing his wry observations on what he sees around him. Are we to say we are normal and Harry is not? What if it turns out that Harvey had it all figured out and we had no clue? Let the viewer decide for himself. The directors great achievement is the brilliant casting. Paul Giamatti is the closest thing anyone would have selected to the real Harvey. Up to now, I have only seen Mr. Giamatti in comedies that didn't have the weight of this film. His take on Harvey is so intense that there are parts when we see the actor and immediately, the real Harvey comes on a different scene. Separating them is almost impossible, as Giamatti's performance leads to Harvey and vice versa. He is totally believable here. He proves that whatever he is doing on screen is what we would expect the real Harvey to do on his own life. The other incredible casting is the one of Hope Davis as Joyce Brabner. Ms. Davis gets the essence of Joyce with very little effort. We can almost see that the Joyce of Hope Davis will result in the actual Joyce we see in the interviews as herself. The resemblance is uncanny. Ms. Davis is outstanding in the film. We wonder what could have attracted her to Harvey, in the first place. Of course, we realize her passion for comics, but on a physical level, these two, as a couple, are miles and miles apart. Yet, their marriage, unlike Harvey's other two before her, survives and grows. Ms. Davis scenes with the young Danielle are pure poetry. We can see it in her face that motherhood for her is very important, yet, she cannot have a child of her own with Harvey. She is thoroughly rewarded at the end with the arrival of Danielle who finds in Joyce a kind soul and a mother because her real one could not be bothered with her. The rest of the cast is just as magnificent. Judah Friedlander as Toby is both funny and pathetic. He is another product of the society he lives in. Also effective, James Urbaniak as the illustrator Bob Crumb who sees in Harvey's stories the potential for great comic books. This is a triumph for all that were involved in this film.

• The Quixotic Burden of Being Both Ordinary and Gifted

  lawprof2003-08-17

  So-called "underground comics" have been around for a long time but they took on new life in the 60s when anger at racism and the Vietnam War led to new strips, some engagingly pornographic. The rise of an alternative press, largely bicoastal, provided readers with often sharp and incisive and not infrequently insipid comics. Complementing the regular appearance of topical newspaper comic strips, comics also sprouted in similar form but not in content to the eagerly anticipated ten cent publications of my childhood. Stores specializing in these comics appeared in urban areas and near some campuses. Into this scene came Harvey Pekar, the anti-hero from America's Heartland, along, later, with his wife, Joyce Brabner. "American Splendor," a comic series still treasured by segments of an aging population, was his contribution to a divided and troubled nation. And this movie is a minor gem of cultural recollection. The film starts with Harvey as a little boy trick-or-treating in his Cleveland neighborhood. His companions are all decked out as Superheroes but Harvey is in ordinary street clothes which prompts questioning, perhaps a challenge, by a would-be neighbor with a tray of treats. Harvey is less a committed non-conformist than he is simply out of the peer jetstream. Segue to a twice divorced Harvey who lives in an apartment dominated by LPs and books - and trash - and employed as a Veterans Administration medical center file clerk. As portrayed by Paul Giamatti, Harvey isn't desperately unhappy or even neurotically despondent. He has a life but it isn't complete. He doesn't rage against his fixed station in life but he wonders: Why? The real Harvey turned his introspective queries about ordinary life into a crude series of comics (he couldn't draw for offal) which a successful illustrator-friend recognized as having marketing potential. While not anti-existentialist, Harvey's stories bucked a pseudointellectual trend by highlighting without despair his character's everyday life. The result, "American Splendor," appeared to sell well without bringing any significant income to its creator. The "American Splendor" series of comics adumbrated the similar pictorial descriptions of "Mr. Urban Everyman" that now appear in formerly alternative but now mainstream papers like New York's The Village Voice. Into Harvey's bleak (and well-filmed) pad and life comes Joyce Brabner, a comics fan who connects from afar with the Pekar persona. Played with insight and vitality by Hope Davis, Joyce sojourns to Cleveland to meet Harvey and never leaves. They marry. In a land dominated by TV where freaks and saints both can enjoy fifteen minutes of fame, Pekar becomes an irregular guest on late night national TV shows. The irony, beautifully shown here, is that the TV interludes provide brief occupancy of luxury hotel suites while Harvey's imperative to keep his day job never ceases. Joyce and Harvey have a close but quixotic relationship. She wants kids, he doesn't. He accepts living in Cleveland, she needs to dash off to the globe's tinderboxes to aid children in crisis. A true crisis for Harvey is a cancer diagnosis with the uncertainty of outcome darkening the couple's life. His plight is depicted with short but painful realism. As both resistance to the disease and a new artistic partnership, Joyce and Harvey write "Our Cancer Year," a comic strip account of what was hardly a comic time. Veering between comedy and drama, Harvey and Joyce's story is uneven but so is life and "American Splendor" captures that reality beautifully. A clever approach that works has the real Harvey, and to a lesser extent the real Joyce, alternate with Giamatti and Davis in telling their tales. The real Harvey is less dramatic than his counterpart but his wry and disarming irony suggests a man who has managed to stay in control of his life. Hope Davis, uncharacteristically un-blond, looks a lot like the actual Joyce. Giamatti captures Harvey's aligning and merging of a unique and insightful creativity with an ordinary life populated by a variety of friends and co-workers all with their own quirks. Harvey doesn't try to change them: he simply incorporates the gang into his stories. They're the "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" of the 60s and 70s underground comics scene. Well-filmed and acted, "American Splendor" is worth seeing. It brings back memories for some and insight for all. 7/10.

• Russian doll

  alexgoldfinch2004-11-25

  It's always hardest to write about what you love and I not only love, but also, to steal a joke from Woody Allen in ANNIE HALL, loaf, luff and lerve this magnificent film. Therefore this will be difficult. Here goes anyway... No-one can possibly deny that this is innovative in its use of the real Harvey Pekar (and people from his life) frequently intruding into the fictionalised account. But this is more than just a neat trick. It works brilliantly. Instead of distancing the viewer from the narrative makes one feel more involved in the film's world. How dare this work? This kind of arty-farty stuff is usually guaranteed to annoy me - but this is nothing short of revelatory in its Russian doll-like idea of having fiction within fiction within fact...and you don't need to be some kind of high-brow film critic to appreciate it! All the performances are gob-smackingly good, and there isn't one moment in the film that bores, irritates, patronises or rings a false note. The cast inhabit their roles like they were born to play them. and the determination not to idealise them or their situations, makes my cynical anti-Hollywood production values heart sing for joy. Do not, I beg you, be put off by the epithet "cult" with which this film has been tarred as if it would appeal only to comic-book fans. No, the appeal here is universal - dealing with Pekar's existential worries and his search for the meaning in his life. It's criminal that American SPLENDOR with all its wit, heart and slickness isn't more highly regarded or more widely known. Masterpiece.