American Splendor

Rating:
Summary: Reality to Comic Book to Major Motion Picture...
Review: Harvey Pekar is an interesting "Everyman" who allows us a look at the reality of his life. The film opens as Harvey's 2nd marriage is breaking up after Harvey supported this 2nd wife through graduate school working as a file clerk at the VA Hospital in Cleveland. A serendipitous meeting with cartoonist R. Crumb eventually leads Harvey to begin documenting his life as a cartoon, with Crumb doing the illustrations. The resulting series, "American Splendor", becomes an underground hit - well acclaimed and not nearly good enough financially for Harvey to quit his file clerk job.

Along the way Harvey meets Joyce - a hypochondriac who wants to do something with her life and identifies something in Harvey that makes her suggest on their first date that they should get married.

The real people from Harvey's life make it into the comic strip, and the buzz eventually makes Harvey into a regular guest on Letterman. Harvey recognizes that Letterman has him on the show over and over so that Harvey's regular life and his regular friends can be ridiculed by an audience that only has respect for entertainers who are "larger than life" - but Letterman also gives exposure to "American Splendor" with essentially free advertising.

The resulting movie, by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman, brilliantly blends live action - starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey and Hope Davis as Joyce - with animation based on the American Splendor drawings, and with interviews with the REAL Harvey - and the effect made me feel closer to the mind and creative process of Harvey Pekar.

Harvey gets cancer and we get to see him go through several stages of coping, aided by Joyce. In their first collaboration Joyce and Harvey produce "Our Cancer Year", another graphic novel. Along the way they assume parenting duties of Danielle - the daughter of the illustrator of "Our Cancer Year" because Danielle's father sees more stability in the lives of Harvey and Joyce than in his own.

Danielle confides in Harvey that she wants to start writing a comic book also.
"Oh yeah?" Harvey asks. "What about?"
"Well... not about you - you're already in enough."

Indeed - Harvey Pekar's life is as documented as any VA file clerk in American history. But sharing a little bit of Harvey's life makes me understand us humans a little bit better.

Rating:
Summary: I, Me, Mine
Review: Having just watched Paul Giamatti's acting prowess in Alexander Payne's excellent "Sideways" three times, and with Terry Zwigoff's movie "Ghost World" (which I must have seen a dozen times already) being a wonderful and quietly tragic movie based on an underground comic book, I was prepared to enjoy a movie that seemed right up my alley.

First off: This movie is well made and Giamatti gives a great performance, as does Hope Davis ("About Schmidt"), who plays his wife.

However, it doesn't put me in the comic book world any more than, say, "Remains of the Day" did. Despite the directors using a number of gimmicks, such as comic strip panels and animation and intercutting scenes with the actual Harvey Pekar (the comic book author upon whom the movie is based) and his wife and nerd co-worker, this movie still put up a wall between itself and me, whereas in "Ghost World" I got totally sucked into the atmosphere, as there was much more graphic unity and cohesion with the plot and characters.

Another reason is that in "Ghost World," I found it easier to sympathize and empathize with the characters. Not so with Harvey Pekar. Sure, Giamatti's fun to watch, but he doesn't have very good monologue to work with or dialogue. He's sort of similar to Seymour, Steve Buscemi's loner from "Ghost World" (and, I have heard, Seymour was based in part on Pekar, a friend of comic illustrator Robert Crumb). Unlike Seymour, however, Pekar has few redeeming qualities.

The harrowing misfortune of living with depression aside, I've never seen such a bitter and negative character like Pekar. On the DVD packaging, he's billed as a "curmudgeon," so I was expecting him to be an intelligent cynic with ascerbic wit, sort of a modern-day H.L. Mencken or Mark Twain.

But Pekar never really does more than grunt about not wanting to look on the brighter side of life, because that's "Hollywood BS." The most intellectual he gets is when he's a guest on "Late Night with David Letterman" for the fifth time or so, when he accuses Letterman of being a sellout, because his show is on NBC, and NBC is owned by General Electric, a company that makes weapons systems. That's his great big revelation? Would be perhaps had I not heard it out of the mouths of John Cusack and Tim Robbins many times before.

Basically, Pekar's shtick is chronicling his commonplace, everyday life. Mind you, not finding something beautiful and unique about it, just giving his readers something that's "real," not like the "Hollywood BS" he so disdains.

His stories revolve around his job as a file clerk at the Veterans Administration hospital in Cleveland, trips to the supermarket, etc. At the hospital, we run into a handful of his oddball co-workers, but not much else. His journey to the express lane while getting trapped behind a kvetching woman with a handful of coupons is cute, but not terribly novel. From Pekar, I get the feeling of a recycled Andy Rooney monologue: "Did you ever notice that... (fill in the blank)?"

Except even Rooney used voice inflection to try to actually interest his audience, as does Giamatti. Had the directors left Giamatti alone to perform the role, maybe I'd not be down on Pekar so much. But, by writing the real Pekar into the script, they sabotage anything Giamatti has done to make him marginally sympathetic, interesting or intelligent.

The real Pekar comes off as sort of a non-entity at best, and a grouch complaining about meaningless trivial inconveniences at worst. He's (dare I say it?) a bore! A self-absorbed and emptyheaded bore!

Thus we are left bereft, empty of any inspiration whatsoever, the victims of a false advertising campaign. There's no "splenor" at all to his self-loathing and negativity. Pekar is basically a man so nihilistic, he'd make Nietzsche blush.

But, unlike Nietzsche, Pekar has negated even the possibility of there being any Uebermenschen, heroes, or even good and interesting people.

Want proof of how Harvey Pekar's life has been a mostly wasted life (based upon what's presented in this film, at least)? Here it is: He worked at the V.A. Hospital in Cleveland long enough to earn a retirement party. That's a pretty huge chunk taken out of his life.

Have you ever been to a V.A. Hospital? It's a ready-made central casting of a novel (or comic book) of epic proportions: So many aging soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen, and they've all got stories to tell. Tales of daring exploits and understated, modest, disclaimers of any heroism at all. At his fingertips, any time he wanted to lunch with them at the cafteria or share a coffee at the canteen, he could have given the world a treasure trove of stories of our many heroes, a few cowards, some braggarts, a few saints and quite a few sinners.

He could have opened up to the rest of us the world of the forgotten veterans too poor to go anywhere else but the V.A. hospital; of American Legion members who go there rather than their private docs, just to chew the fat and share old war stories with their fellow comrades; of the ancient guy sitting outside the entrance in his wheelchair, using a few of his last precious breaths to suck in nicotine, while smoking a Camel through his tracheostomy tube; the heartbreak of lonely old homeless vets, who've no family in the world, and who are just waiting to die.

Oddly, we meet none of these colorful types. Harvey Pekar is too busy staring at file cabinet drawers, complaining about the length of lines at the store and gazing at his own navel to look beyond to see a grand and glorious world outside of himself.

But, of course, Pekar's world precludes the very existence of such people as heroes, and the wars they fought and won were nothing more than "Hollywood BS."

I do recommend "American Splendor" as a rental, so that viewers can watch some good performances as well as competent color timing, sound editing and film splicing.

"American Splendor" is the antithesis of "It's A Wonderful Life": It unintentionally answers the question "would the world have been better off without Harvey Pekar?" with "well, it really doesn't matter. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?"

But, of course, any other answer would have been more of the same, phoney "Hollywood BS."

Rating:
Summary: A Personal Depiction and Outsider's Perspective - Brilliant!
Review: When an obsessive-compulsive pessimistic file clerk decides to create comic books on his life a rhetorical question arises, will someone ever read these comic books? The film American Splendor is evidence that a group of devoted readers did read this comic book with the same name as the film. The cult figure Robert Crumb, who is known for Felix the Cat, illustrated Pekar's stories, which at the time only had stick figures and no public interest. Together Pekar and Crumb brought Pekar's life into the world of comics as an anti-heroic comic book, which essentially uses ordinary people around Pekar that emphasizes their unique talents in a superhuman manner.

The film depicts a semi-documentary, which brings humor, drama, tragedy, and whatever else life has to offer to the silver screen through the personification of Harvey Pekar. A combination between Paul Giamatti, who does a brilliant job performing as Pekar, and Harvey, himself, who frequently presents himself adds texture to the story. This double performance enhances the story as it brings a dual image of Harvey, the personal depiction, as well as an outsider's perspective of Harvey's identity. Intriguingly it brings out several layers Pekar's life and his idiosyncrasies as he struggles with testicular cancer, divorce, loneliness, and his hobbies.

The films ordinarily depiction of an odd character is unique as it develops into an interesting character study of a real character. It is sad. It is funny. It is depressing. It is warm. It is touching. It is grotesque. However, life is all these things, and this is Harvey Pekar's life. Through the pessimistic Pekar the audience gets to be subjected to a wonderful cinematic experience that offers several thoughtful and humorous life lessons.


Rating:
Summary: Paul Giamatti for president
Review: American Splendor is one of those films that completely takes you by surprise with how good it really is. It is directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, a duo who shows an astonishing confidence in not only their actors, but the screenplay they are working from also (beautifully written by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner).

The confidence is well placed, as the acting portraying the real life quirks of comic book artist Harvey Pekar, wife Joyce Brabner, and many supporting roles is pitch perfect. Don't know what these people are like in real life? Wondering what to compare them to? Not to worry, American Splendor features documentary segments of the real Harvey and friends, giving the film a second intriguing layer.

Think about it - how much confidence does it take to show a segment where an actor (Paul Giamatti) portraying a real life man (Pekar) walks through a door, and on the other side of the door is a cut to real life video footage of that man? A whole lot of confidence. Giamatti seems to take the challenge in stride with his comedic ability, not to mention the wonderful Hope Davis as Brabner. Take those elements, add actual cartoon portions inspired by the illustration of the original American Splendor comic book, and you have one imaginative and darkly comic tale about one imaginative and darkly comic man.

Rating:
Summary: An Extraordinarily Ordinary Life
Review: Life's a funny thing. You eke out an anonymous existence in ratty apartments at a clerk job at the V.A. hospital, submit ideas for stories about your seemingly mundane life (you can bearly draw a straight line)for an underground comic book and they make a classic movie about you. Harvey Pekar is one lucky fellow that the task of making the movie of his life was left to the gifted directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman.

Pulcini and Berman imaginatively tell Harvey's story through interesting devices such as through traditional actors, actual participation by the real-life counterparts themselves or through cartoon panels. At one point in the film the real Harvey Pekar is talking and you can see the actor playing him, Paul Giamatti, laughing in the background. Normally this would be a daunting task for an actor to have the real-life person appear in the same film as you but Giamatti is such a consummate actor that he is more than up to the task. Also providing excellent work here are Hope Davis as Harvey's soulmate, Joyce, and Judah Friedlander as Toby, a nerdy co-worker(and proud of it)of Harvey's. The grimy Cleveland locations also add to the feel of the film as do the use of vintage records on the soundtrack(probably obscure jazz records from Harvey's personal collection). In a perfect world this film should have enjoyed greater box office acceptance than it did like, say, a lesser independent film like "Napoleon Dynamite". I have attempted to recommend this film to other people and it's usually met with a shrug. When I attempt to explain what the film is about it's usually met with puzzled uninterested looks. Some things in life don't come wrapped in pretty paper and a bow. Just ask Harvey.

Rating:
Summary: Learning Disabled
Review: It's amazing how comic book characters end up with film adaptations. Filmmakers have long made storyboards, which are nothing more than scene-by-scene drawings. In fact, they look a lot like comic books. Martin Scorcese's film documentary talks of his storyboards from his youth. Chasing Amy, Kevin Smith's best work, is about cartoonists. True Romance, screenplay by Tarentino, the hero works in a comic book store. Anyhow, not only can comic characters become the subject of film, but the creators and inkers become a movie as well. Hence, we have Crumb or even more unlikely, Harvey Pekar and his America Splendor, a comic book of his lifetime angst shot right to your Triplex.

In truth, Harvey is the perfect underground artist. He hates Capitalism, his wife hates Capitalism, and they (...)about having no money, yuppies, and their crappy apartment. Okay, so Harvey has a learning disability that keeps him from the goodies that other Americans seem to pluck from trees. Our schlep, Harvey, wanders aimlessly from his clerical job to his lonely crib in downtrodden Cleveland.

But Capitalism finds Harvey despite himself. His friend the famous Robert Crumb pens Harvey's new comic, American Slender and the next thing you know, he has a wife and a regular gig on the David Letterman show. Then he gets cancer.

This one reminded me of a far superior film about, no way, geeks that can't deal with modern society but are artistically brilliant, Ghost World. Yo, filmmakers, make a film about a guy trying to get a business going while raising a family. He wears a suit and helps out at Little League. He doesn't hate America. But they'll never make that film.


Rating:
Summary: Just say no to middle age crisis and low wages!
Review: Good movie but this dude does not represent no one I know, lmao! I mean this guy was just depressed about life, boo hoo Im a under paid worker, too cynical and sadistic for my taste, but in all for the representation of comic books and American splendor in particular, a great well deserved high opinionated movie. His girlfriend went from being a man's dream girl because of her love for comics, to a lazy quitter, who slept all day, if I were him she would have been out on her A_Z_Z! lmao! This is one of those movies that is only good to watch one time, because it is so depressing. lmao! ..........................Dayum I hope I never go through this and feel as this man did................hmm Im under payed now! oh well Theres no business like your own business.................... two fingers in a v-shape =)

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: This movie is about a real person whom many would consider a geek, an outsider, a loser. There are other movies about geeks that emphasize their geekiness so as to reassure us the audience that we are not geeks, but they are just fantansies, aren't they? I have yet to meet a non-geek. One can be popular, talented, beautiful, smart, rich, or whatever, but the reality is that all of us have this weird sense of insecurity about almost every aspect of our lives, that often makes us behave awkwardly or, in Harvey Pekar's case, become hostile. Harvey Pekar chose to participate in sharing his geekiness through the comics and this movie, and I am so glad he did because, as his old college friend puts it, it is truthful.