American Splendor (2003)
Donal Logue, Earl Billings, Harvey Pekar, Hope Davis, James McCaffrey ... (see more) , James Urbaniak , Josh Hutcherson , Joyce Brabner , Judah Friedlander , Molly Shannon , Paul Giamatti , Robert Pulcini , Shari Springer Berman , Toby Radloff
Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with re... (read more) Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his "American Splendor" a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey's cult celebrity stature.
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R, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed by:
Shari Springer Berman,
Robert Pulcini
Release Date: Aug 15, 2003
DVD Release Date: Feb 03, 2004
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Flixster User Reviews
Imagine living an ordinary, if verging on dull life. Now imagine writing a comic about it...this is what Harvey Pekar did and this is what this film is all about. Its quite surreal and showered with some excellent comic touches. It is also superbly a... (read more) Imagine living an ordinary, if verging on dull life. Now imagine writing a comic about it...this is what Harvey Pekar did and this is what this film is all about. Its quite surreal and showered with some excellent comic touches. It is also superbly acted and cleverly scripted, as story, narrative and comic book entwine.
One of the boldest comic book adaptations in sometime and a pleasant watch to boot.
American Splendor
#4 - Best Movies of the 2000s
#1 - Best Movies of 2003
A great mix of dramedy and documentary featuring Paul Giamatti playing Harvey Pekar inter-cut with the real Harvey. Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff, and how can you forg... (read more) American Splendor
#4 - Best Movies of the 2000s
#1 - Best Movies of 2003
A great mix of dramedy and documentary featuring Paul Giamatti playing Harvey Pekar inter-cut with the real Harvey. Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff, and how can you forget this epic exchange: "It's a new film called Revenge of the Nerds. It's about a group of nerd college students who are being picked on all the time by the jocks. So they decide to take revenge. ~ So what you're saying is, you identify with those nerds. ~ Yes. I consider myself a nerd. And this movie has uplifted me. There's this one scene, where a nerd grabs the microphone during a pep rally and announces that he is a nerd and that he is proud of it and stands up for the rights of other nerds. Then he asks all the kids at the pep rally who think they are nerds to come forward, so nearly everybody in the place does. That's the way the movie ends. ~ Uhhmmm, so the nerds won, huh? ~ Yes. ~ All right. Wow, well you know, you got this movie and I'm getting hitched. We both had a good month, huh? ~ Right." Screening: Century Evanston 12 & CineArts 6.
A very meta-Biopic? based of the comics of the acclaimed writer of "American Splendor", Harvey Pekar. The films is constantly unique and manages to link characters to their real life counterparts in consistantly funny and interesting ways which gives... (read more) A very meta-Biopic? based of the comics of the acclaimed writer of "American Splendor", Harvey Pekar. The films is constantly unique and manages to link characters to their real life counterparts in consistantly funny and interesting ways which gives the film a far more genuine feel.
Ohio's greatest misanthrope. Is it wrong I completely identified with this guy?
Muy original. Drama con tintes cómicos y una vida de mierda de Pekar. La narración es genial, pero no sé si daba para tanta pelÃcula.
Such a moving, thoughtful, rewarding film. A poet, philosopher, artist, guy down the street.
My name is Harvey Pekar - that's an unusual name - Harvey Pekar. 1960 was the year I got my first apartment and my first phone book. Now imagine my surpris... (read more) Such a moving, thoughtful, rewarding film. A poet, philosopher, artist, guy down the street.
My name is Harvey Pekar - that's an unusual name - Harvey Pekar. 1960 was the year I got my first apartment and my first phone book. Now imagine my surprise when I looked up my name and saw that in addition to me, another Harvey Pekar was listed. Now I was listed as "Harvey L. Pekar", my middle name is Lawrence, and he was listed as "Harvey Pekar" therefore his was a - was a pure listing. Then in the '70s, I noticed that a third Harvey Pekar was listed in the phone book, now this filled me with curiousity. How can there be three people with such an unusual name in the world, let alone in one city? Then one day, a person I work with, expressed her sympathy with me, concerning what she thought, was the death of my father, and she pointed out an obituary notice in the newspaper for a man named Harvey Pekar. And one of his sons was named Harvey. And these were the other Harvey Pekar's. And six months later, Harvey Pekar Jr. died. And although I've met neither man, I was filled with sadness, 'what were they like?', I thought, it seemed that our lives had been linked in some indefineable way. But the story does not end there, for two years later, another 'Harvey Pekar' appeared in the phone book. Who are these people? Where do they come from? What do they do? What's in a name? Who is "Harvey Pekar"?
Amazing. Part film part autobiography (uses footage of the actual person its based on and has a scene where he's on the set with the actor that plays him)
another brilliant one. i can not decide whether i love Paul Giamatti or Harvey Pekar more!
The true life story of Harvey Pekar - a cartoonist unable to draw - who with the help of some more artistically talented friends, documents his humdrum everyday life and becomes an underground comic cult hero. Good cast, funny and humane.
Critic Reviews
The most amazing, colossal and fantastic comic-inspired movie in years.full review
It's a humane and witty treatment of an average life that, incidentally, speaks to the worth and inherent drama of average lives.full review
Magnificently audacious movie, in which fact and fiction sometimes coexist in the same frame.full review
One of those rare, inventively made movies that isn't so taken with its own novelty it loses sight of its characters. Its warmth is for real, and it enwraps you.full review
Proof that ordinary guys can hold the comics, and the screen, as well as superheroes. This Halloween, I want to be Harvey Pekar.full review
One of the most uniquely inventive cinematic experiences of the decade thus far.full review
An act of unabashed postmodern self-commentary employed to deliberately blur the distinction between the authentic Harvey Pekar and actor Paul Giamatti's faithful recreation.full review
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