American Splendor (2003)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Shari Springer Berman
Robert Pulcini

Writers (WGA):

Harvey Pekar (comic book series American Splendor) and
Joyce Brabner (comic book series Our Cancer Year) ...

Release Date:

12 September 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.

Plot:

An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Plot Keywords:

Comic Book | Crumb | Celebrity | Hospital | Underground

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 28 wins & 32 nominations

Cast

Chris Ambrose	...	Superman
Joey Krajcar	...	Batman
Josh Hutcherson	...	Robin
Cameron Carter	...	Green Lantern
Daniel Tay	...	Young Harvey
Mary Faktor	...	Housewife
Paul Giamatti	...	Harvey Pekar
Harvey Pekar	...	Real Harvey
Shari Springer Berman	...	Interviewer (voice)
Larry John Meyers	...	Throat Doctor (as Larry John Myers)
Vivienne Benesch	...	Lana
Barbara Brown	...	Nurse
Earl Billings	...	Mr. Boats
Danny Hoch	...	Marty
James Urbaniak	...	Robert Crumb

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | USA:R (certificate #39761) | USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Germany:6 | Iceland:LH | Mexico:B | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Company:

Good Machine

Trivia:

All of the "white room" documentary scenes were filmed in one day.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The opening of the movie is set in 1975. During the opening credits, there is a scene that has CSX freight cars in the background. The CSX corporations was formed in 1980, five years later.

Quotes:

Harvey Pekar: [looking at himself in the mirror] Well, there's a reliable disappointment.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Oh in Ohio (2006)

Soundtrack:

Hula Medley

A modern classic of successful innovation

Successfully innovative, American Splendor combines fiction and reality in a spellbinding and amusing way, winning awards at Cannes and Sundance, and proving its maxim that life is pretty complex (and endlessly fascinating) stuff . . .

The story features Harvey Pekar, as himself, as the played by actor Paul Giamatti and as the comic book persona that he has created based on himself. Pekar is downbeat, depressed, in a dead end filing job, rather bitter. His best friend is a self-confessed nerd. Yet when the events of his life are epitomized in comic book snapshots they are intensely poignant, they seem to reach the disenfranchised, the dysfunctional within each of us. We follow him into a marriage that is as weird as he is. The originality of the material is reflected in its postmodern style of presentation, self-awareness of audience-manipulation blending seamlessly with entertainment and artistic delivery. Scenes are introduced and blended with comic book taglines, storyboarding, and even transitions from interloping set discussions with the real Pekar to the actor playing the scene under discussion. If it sounds pretentious, it's not – simply because it works so well and in an unpretentious way. Lovingly created and very moving. Probably the first real classic of 2003 and not to be missed, and for lovers of jazz/blues a soundtrack collectors item.

(Seeing it at the Edinburgh International Film Festival I also had the privilege of seeing the real life Pekar, his wife and adopted daughter together with Paul Giamatti, truly topping off a multi-media experience haha!)