Rating: 
Summary: Very Good Biopic
Review: "American Splendor" is a terrific film, and easily one of the best of 2003 (though that's not saying much). It tells the story of Harvey Pekar, famous in comic book circles for starting the American Splendor series. I didn't know anything about him or the series before I saw this movie, so it might be even more enjoyable for those who do. Or, as so often happens with biopics, an educated viewer might find that the story plays too loosely with facts. I can't answer for that, but I can say that I enjoyed this film very much.Paul Giamatti seems to be born to play Pekar. He's got the perfect hang-dog, born-loser aura about him. Hope Davis is also very good as Pekar's equally strange wife. This film got a lot of attention for its unconventional approach to story telling, using animation and documentary-like clips of the real Harvey Pekar to highlight the fictional portion of the film. For that reason, I was actually expecting this film to be more indie than it feels. As is, it's good, but it's fairly conventional. That's the only thing about it that disappointed me slightly. But still, even if slightly more conventional than I would have wished, it's more intelligent than 95% of the other conventional films floating around out there. Grade: A
Rating:
Summary: A Rare Gem
Review: This movie is extraordinary. A fascinating and unflinching look at what it takes to make great artwork. I thought Hope Davis was the star of the show. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable--and I don't even like comic books
Review: Harvey Pekar was depressed and resigned to being merely a file clerk--just a cog in the machine. His cry of desperation finds a creative outlet in creating a comic book about the every day ups and downs of life--of his life. His dry, sardonic story style became the voice of a new breed of comics. Many spend their lives searching for meaning. Others run from the search. And others get lost in the inanity of existence. IN CREATING A COMIC ABOUT THE FUTILITY AND FRUSTRATION OF HIS EXISTENCE, HARVEY CREATED MEANING FOR HIS LIFE AND BREATHED SOME HAPPINESS INTO THE LIVES OF COUNTLESS OTHERS. Harvey ultimately ventures beyond satire (of his own life) to document his own battle with cancer and other life changes. PROS
* Very well-acted: Paul Giamatti perfectly captures the mannerisms and gruffness of Harvey Pekar, whom we see in cut-aways as a narrator. * It's a funny movie. We may not be as frustrated with life as Harvey, but we can relate to his frustration that is very humorously expressed. * I enjoyed the cinematography and direction. The very 1970s (primarily) story of Harvey is spiced with cut-aways to the real Harvey narrating his story from a sound stage that has a comic book feel to it. CONS
* I thought the ending was abrupt. I'd like to know more about what has happened to Harvey between the 1980s and today. It's a small quibble, though. RECOMMENDATION
I want to compare this a bit to Lost in Translation, Sophia Coppola's Best Picture nominee, because both explore loneliness. Coppola's characters are so depressed that they're boring. They wallow in their own emptiness. And because of that, they're not endearing. Harvey Pekar is relatable and endearing. He creates his own hope. And for my money, that makes this a better movie. RECOMMENDED.
Rating: 
Summary: An Everyday Hero
Review: Harvey Pekar is a lot of things...a grump, a TV star, a low-level file clerk, a husband, a cult hero, an insecure shlump. Amazing, how a man can simultaneously embody the American Dream of fame and herodom, and the quiet desperation of everyday life. "American Splendor" tells the tale of such a man perhaps in the only way to do him justice - by any means necessary. It's mostly told with actors, but sometimes we get to meet the real Harvey and his friends and family. Sometimes we see some crude but effective animation. Sometimes everything is mixed together. The amazing thing is that the approach never seems gimmicky or self-conscious - it seems honest. There's never a moment during Paul Giamatti's astounding portrayal of Harvey that we doubt his authenticity, and we aren't disoriented in the least when the real Harvey shows up. The Harvey Pekar story, as told in "American Splendor," is deeply moving. Here's a guy with a soul but a bleak outlook, one who is cursed to see the futility and inanity of his own existence. What separates him from so many of his bretheren, though, and quite possibly saves his life, is that he finds an outlet when he chooses to document his life in comic-book form. One one hand, this decision leads to his status as an underground hero, Letterman regular, and movie subject. On another, his life doesn't get any better, even though he manages, amazingly, to find a wife who pretty much understands him, and a child who seems to be his match. Harvey is difficult but impossible to dislike. You stick with him, even when he's being insufferable. That's true of the other characters in his life, played to perfection by Hope Davis as his wife, and Judah Friedlander as his ubernerd friend Toby. These are people who matter, and they deserve their voices, and "American Splendor" lets them speak, with enormously entertaining results. I love movies like "American Splendor." Harvey is right - everyday life is pretty complex stuff. I'd rather watch a movie about guys like Pekar than 100 movies about hostage negotiations and falling rocks.
Rating:
Summary: Really captured the essence of Cleveland
Review: Being a lifelong Clevelander, I must say this movie captured the feel of Cleveland better than any other movie I've ever seen. It may be that you have to live in the area to feel it, but it can give outsiders a feel of this drab city. Fantastic, if just for that reason.
Rating:
Summary: Creative Adaptation of Harvey Pekar's "Reality Comics".
Review: Perhaps it isn't surprising that "American Splendor" is the most creative and quirky film of 2003, considering it is based on an underground comic book that has entertained readers with its cynical but oddly amusing depiction of the life of Harvey Pekar, file clerk and all around working class stiff, since 1976. Frustrated by the obscurity and general lack of impact that his humdrum life provided him, Harvey decided that documenting it might be the way to overcome life's fleeting nature. But Harvey couldn't draw a straight line. So "American Splendor" was illustrated at first by Harvey's friend, underground comic icon Robert Crumb, and later by a succession of other artists. So for the past 28 years as of this writing, Harvey Pekar has documented his daily life in comics. He portrays his own anxieties and frustrations, his marriage, his friends, his co-workers, and his rise to fame frankly and without artifice. "American Splendor" is "reality comics". Writer/directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman have transformed "American Splendor" and "Our Cancer Year", a comic series that Pekar wrote with this wife Joyce Brabner, into a coherent offbeat film. Paul Giamatti portrays Harvey Pekar, and Hope Davis is his wife Joyce. Earl Billings gives a terrific supporting performance as Harvey's boss, Mr. Boats, as does Judah Friedlander as his co-worker Toby Radloff. The story is told through conventional cinematography, comic strips, and interviews with Harvey, Joyce, and Toby, filmed like a documentary against a comic-like set. In keeping with the sprit of his comics, we see the movie Harvey, and we meet the real Harvey. The directors' ability to adapt such lengthy and eccentric material and to bring so many different styles together without it seeming at all disjointed is a real credit to their talent. If it seems hard to fathom why people would read a comic book about life's more mundane qualities for decades, the film "American Splendor" leaves little doubt about the entertainment value of that material on screen. The DVD: Bonus features include a featurette entitled "Road to Splendor", which follows Harvey and his family as they accompany this film from the Sundance Film Festival, to the Cannes Film Festival, to Comic-Con, and then on to "American Splendor"'s world premiere; the film's title song "American Splendor" by Eytan Mirsky; a DVD-ROM (Windows only) that contains downloadable wallpapers and screensavers; a theatrical trailer; and an audio commentary by Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, Toby Radloff, Danielle Patone (Harvey & Joyce's adopted daughter), Paul Giamatti, and writer/directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman. The audio commentary combines the personal experiences of the real characters in Harvey's world with technical information from the filmmakers. It's pretty interesting, but sometimes it is difficult to keep track of who is talking, as is so often the case when an audio commentary is done by a group. And this is the largest group yet I have heard on an audio commentary.
Rating:
Summary: The Comic Book Bukowski
Review: I've never really been into comic books or heard of Harvey Pekar other than some vague memories of his Letterman appearances and the "Genuine Nerd", Toby Radloff on MTV. I loved this movie. For one thing, the landscape was beautifully crappy, everything garbage and broken and cracked, just like Harvey's life. Also the fact that the main character of the film is an ugly guy with medical problems and a rocky love life. This is how most peoples lives are, filled with problems. Hollywood and popular books and comics are typically a watered down version of life, where there are easy answers in each situation and the characters are either 100% "good" or 100% "evil" - unlike real people who are good, evil, and 1000 other things mixed in one. In this movie there wasn't a spectacular story - it was like a Bukowski novel - just real life, as it is. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five was because they did Hollywood it up at the end with the cute scene with his kid going to school on the bus. Plus Pekar got lymphoma twice and they didn't show that. It should have ended with him getting lymphoma again instead of the retirement party. So even though he said "This isn't some kinda happy ending", it was. But I'm glad Hollywood is taking on these kinds of stories. It's unhealthy to keep representing people as larger than life.
Rating:
Summary: A Quirky Tribute to a....
Review: Quirky, idiosyncratic man. I enjoyed it. Avid Record Collecting, Author, retired file clerk, and existential philosopher Harvey Pekar is an enigma. This film delves into the trials and minutiae of everyday living. Really, I enjoyed it. We all have a little Pekar in us at times. A worthwhile purchase
Rating:
Summary: Ordinary life is complex stuff!
Review: Harvey Pekar, the everyman who's life is chronicled in comics form makes it to the screen! I'd like to see more of his works developed for movies because he does have a lot to say about the human condition. His earlier works including "ripoff chick" would make great material for future sequels. Harvey represents the working person in every one of us. With the popularity of this film all his paperback comics will be back in print again. The audio commentary adds an extra layer to this great character. There's no pretense or hollywood in Harvey. The comic insert by Gary and Laura Dumm make me want to see more of his work.
Rating:
Summary: Clearly a fine film, but . . .
Review: I admired this film a great deal - on almost every level. Original, well-written and acted, and a great peek into the world of both comics and blue-collar artists. The problem for me was that it felt too familiar. I've read Pekar for years, seen all the Letterman shows, heard about his relationships and knew his persona (and many of the plot points) from his writings. I was anxious to see the film and again, I enjoyed it, but I think the real sense of freshness and discovery will be reserved for those who never heard of Pekar or American Splendor.
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