By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Robert Pulcini | Shari Springer Berman
Starring: Hope Davis | James Urbaniak | Judah Friedlander | Paul Giamatti
Country: united_states
Year: 2003
Running time: 100
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0305206
Bob says: “The film raises some very interesting questions without coming out and asking them. Pekar’s work is all about portraying real life, but of course it’s all filtered through multiple lenses: his own perspective of events, his choice of which events merit inclusion in his comics, and the varying visions of the different artists who draw the books. This is typified in the film in one of the telephone conversations Harvey and Joyce have before they meet. Joyce doesn’t know which of the images she’s seen of Harvey is the ‘real’ Harvey – if any. When they do meet, she scans the bus station looking for each of the Harvey’s who might show up.
I was fascinated with the way the real gets modified in the film. The dramatized parts of the film mix verisimilitude with comic art, and many of the documentary sections pull the audience into a stripped down reality. Often we see the real Harvey, but on a set with just a few props thrown in to give us an idea of place. The point seems to be that absolutely nothing should be automatically accepted as the one and only reality. It’s all been altered in one way or another.”
Bob G. says: “Harvey Pekar IS humanity. That’s the seemingly lofty message posited by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini in American Splendor, and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work, and brilliantly. The film is a masterful example of the sublime, mixing animation, interviews, and dramatic footage to portray Pekar’s amazing journey from obscurity to fame via his groundbreaking indie comic. That it manages to maintain consistent focus on Pekar the artist and everyman, without once drawing attention to itself, is a testament to the talents of leads Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis and of the obvious love and affection Springer Berman and Pulcini have for their subjects. Giamatti’s performance in particular is astonishing, since it would have been so easy to simply mimic Pekar’s obvious mannerisms without giving any sense of the man behind the grimace. Pekar doesn’t know how to behave inauthentically, and neither does this film. It’s convictions, and that of it’s characters, provide an emotional payoff that —- even when dealing with subjects like cancer, loneliness, and alienation — is sometimes overwhelming in it’s honesty. Few films provide a more enjoyable ride.” 5 cats
Diane says: “I loved the clever mix of docu/fiction/comic strip. And I was pleased that a few people saw me in the Hope Davis character.” 4 cats
Hilary says: “The question of ‘reality’ is at the center of AMERICAN SPLENDOR. The film is a bio-pic, but that isn’t a sufficient description. As Michael said, much of it feels like a documentary, and with the ‘Real Harvey’ (as he was credited) observing and commenting on ‘Harvey Pekar’ as played by Paul Giamatti, the film occupies an interesting middle ground between the two.
“Visually, I really enjoy films based on/inspired by comic books that retain a clear graphic quality. (The opening credit sequence was one of my favorite from this year (right behind THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS.) I liked the way in which Pekar, Brabner, R. Crumb, and others’ work was incorporated into the action of the film.
“I thought the cast was quite impressive. Any time an actor portrays a real person, there must be a certain amount of pressure inherent in the process. Now magnify that by portraying a living person, and having the person participating and appearing in the film with you. Giamatti and Hope Davis were particularly good. Giamatti is all slouchy insecurities and a strange, leering expression. Davis is wonderfully neurotic though ultimately quite strong, peeking out at the world through enormous glasses and beneath a Morticia Addams hairstyle. The love story between Pekar and Brabner is touching without becoming trite. They prove the old maxim that there is someone out there for everyone.
:A minor aside, Giamatti as Pekar reminded me a bit of Steve Buscemi’s Seymour from GHOST WORLD, with his beloved record collection, comfort in the familiar, and frustration with his dead-end job. Which seems appropriate as GHOST WORLD director Terry Zwigoff also made the documentary CRUMB.”
Esme says: “I really wish I had seen American Splendor without knowing anyone liked it–I am sure I would have been startled and impressed by the interweaving of the cartoons, interviews and dramatic reenactment of Harvey Pekar’s life. Sadly, I kept thinking was a pain in the ass he must be. The movie was really great though, despite my kvetching.” 4 1/2 cats
Laura says: “AMERICAN SPLENDOR was heralded with the Grand Jury prize at Sundance and awarded the FIPRESCI Award at Cannes for its innovative melding of fictional representation, reality (Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner narrate and comment on the action, sometimes from within the same frame as the actors) and comic book conventions, but essentially the film is about an underachieving drone who has gained certain levels of fame as his loser status has come in and out of fashion. The husband and wife directing team of Robert Pulcini (who appears on screen as Bob the director and Shari Springer Berman (who is heard off screen as an interviewer) may have taken a unique approach to Pekar’s story, but their subject is so generally glum and his world so familiar from the recent CRUMB and GHOST WORLD that it only takes off intermittently.
The film begins with a young Harvey (Daniel Tay) determined to trade his own identity for treats on Halloween. By 1975, he’s being dumped by his newly PhD’d wife, unable to communicate with a voice he’s been told needs months of rest. Like GHOST WORLD’s Seymour, Harvey lives in a dingy abode with the records he collects stacked on sway-backed shelves ready to accept any woman who would have him. He begins to write down downtrodden snippets of his life – unwinnable arguments with Mr.Boats (Earl Billings, ANTWONE FISHER) from work, commentary on little old Jewish ladies at the supermarket – and shows them to a visiting Crumb who surprises him by offering to illustrate them. A small cult-level success garners him a letter from fan and comic book store owner Joyce Brabner (Hope Davis, THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS) who he begs to pay him a visit (‘Man, she’s got good looking handwriting’). Joyce turns out to be a hypochondriac reformer and Harvey’s match – they marry within a week.
Paul Giamatti, who doesn’t really resemble Pekar (Christopher Lloyd may have been a better physical match), does a wonderful job playing him nonetheless. Despite Harvey’s combative nature (which lost him a long running association with David Letterman in the 1980s), the actor brings poignancy to a man who complains about his wife in her presence and misses her in her absence. In the film’s best scene, Pekar runs into an old college classmate, Alice Quinn (Maggie Moore, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH), at a local bakery. Their conversation is full of ‘what might have been’ and Giamatti’s playing of it adds more depth to the character than we get in any other five scenes combined. He also has a wonderful soliloquy once again ruminating on identity. Against a false background, Giamatti discourses on the other Harvey Pekars he has found in the phone book. The real surprise of the film, though, is Hope Davis, who is utterly hilarious in her blank faced seriousness of purpose. ‘I can spot a personality disorder a mile away’ she proclaims before opening the door to Harvey’s buddy Toby Radloff (Judah Friedlander, SHOWTIME) – ‘borderline autistic.’ The joke is, of course, that’s she’s completely right and Friedlander’s performance is validated by Radloff’s real presence. (Toby Radloff had brief fame by association when MTV decided to run a series of ‘loser’ spots.)
The directors (OFF THE MENU: THE LAST DAYS OF CHASENS) and their production designer Thérèse DePrez (HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH) introduce the real Harvey sitting almost suspended against a white background – a blank page – surrounded by his things. He answers questions while actors walk off scenes into his space. Later he is joined by wife Joyce and his old Letterman footage is edited in (Giamatti appears in the back stage scenes) to relay that part of his history. Split screen and other comic panel effects are used. Things get most surreal when Giamatti and Hope as Pekar and Brabner travel to L.A. to see a play of AMERICAN SPLENDOR with Pekar and Brabner portrayed by Donal Logue (THE TAO OF STEVE) and Molly Shannon (SUPERSTAR).
After Joyce gets Harvey through cancer by writing their story in graphic form as Our Cancer Year and they adopt the child, Danielle (Madylin Sweeten, TV’s ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’), of that book’s illustrator Fred (James McCaffrey,THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS) the patched together family are seen celebrating Harvey’s retirement from the VA Hospital job he never left. A copy of Our Movie Year (which has already been excepted in Entertainment Weekly) is prominently displayed. Harvey Pekar’s passing the cup once more for being Harvey Pekar, American Everyman.” 4 cats
Michael says: “Co-directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini craft a fascinating biopic about comic book writer/file clerk Harvey Pekar in AMERICAN SPLENDOR. Fusing animation, feature film and documentary keeps things lively and fascinating as we get a glimpse of Harvey’s life from childhood (briefly) to retirement and beyond. Interestingly enough, fans of Pekar’s work will know this story well, as it provides the basis for his comics, and is now adapted into movie form. As I watched, I said to myself once again, ‘I just love documentaries!’ Ironically, AMERICAN SPLENDOR is not a documentary, but I find stories of everyday people powerful and absorbing.
“When watching a film about real people, the viewer often can’t help but wonder how accurate a portrayal the actors are given. AMERICAN SPLENDOR answers that question by showing us the actual people in amusing doc-style interviews intercutting the main storyline. Paul Giamatti (Pekar), Hope Davis (Pekar’s wife Joyce Brabner), and Judah Friedlander (Pekar’s friend and uber-nerd, Toby Radloff) all do an outstanding job mimicking their real-life counterparts. There is a terrific scene of Giamatti and Friedlander watching Pekar and Radlorr chat between takes. But beyond the mimickry, the acting is very strong, particularly from Giamatti and Davis, who fuse the elements of reality with the ‘comic book’ successfully, giving us portraits that are acerbically funny and touchingly real.
AMERICAN SPLENDOR is a lot of fun, filled with laughs, with a well-structured story. While it didn’t blow me away as the best film of the year, as several critics lauded, there is little to complain about.” 4 cats
| American Splendor (USA; 100 min.) directed by: |
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