American Splendor (DVD)

American Splendor tells the story of Harvey Pekar a disgruntled and depressed file clerk who doesn't know what to do with his life. We are first introduced to him as a young boy at Halloween, the only one with out a costume he gets sick of people wondering why and walks off on his own and becomes the cynical outcast he is. The voice of the real Harvey Pekar narrates as we are introduced to Paul Giomatti as portraying his middle-aged self and he warns ...
...and Toby are standing watching. American Splendor is primarily a comic-book franchise and the film doesn't forget this. The opening credits are set out as a page of a comic book and some frames are live action whilst others are 2D drawings but all flowing together. A 2D version of Harvey also imposes on the live action as Harvey's thoughts or whenever needed. Throughout we have comic-book style captions now and again. True to Harvey's great interest ... more

American Splendor tells the story of Harvey Pekar a disgruntled and depressed file clerk who doesn't know what to do with his life. We are first introduced to him as a young boy at Halloween, the only one with out a costume he gets sick of people wondering why and walks off on his own and becomes the cynical outcast he is. The voice of the real Harvey Pekar narrates as we are introduced to Paul Giomatti as portraying his middle-aged self and he warns us that this isn't a Hollywood fantasy film full of romance and fantasy and happy endings but a real story about a man who is sick of his crappy life.

He spends most of his life alone, his voice is going all the time because he shouts too much and his wife leaves him after obtaining a degree and believing that Harvey is holding him back. He becomes more and more alone and sick of the repetitiveness of life. His friends have all got their interests and his best friend Robert Crumb moves to San Francisco to become a famous underground comic book artist. As time passes Harvey strikes upon the idea of a comic that follows real life. Something that people can relate to as opposed to magical creatures and muscular powerful superheroes and starts to draw comics of all his own daily incidences. He draws basic stick figures and adds the dialogue and his friend Robert Crumb agrees to do the illustrations and the comic book gets published. He does more and different artists take it up. He becomes a hit in the underground comic book scene and a fan agrees to meet him and before he knows it he gets married to her. They start to merchandise and try to wring some money out of the franchise but Harvey still can't give up his day job. The film then follows the later "cancer year" with Harvey's contracting testicular cancer and his new series of comics.

This is one of many favourite films, I really enjoy it. What first makes it really interesting is the characters. Harvey is aggressive and cynical and constantly gloomy but funny in his own way. He doesn't like pretentious real life and he doesn't hide it. The film is very well and originally directed in that not only do we have the real Harvey Pekar narrating but the film occasionally cuts from the film to a room with the real Harvey commenting on what is going and then talking a little about himself. The advantage in this is not only is the real Harvey very entertaining but you get to see how good an actor Giomatti is by comparison to the real thing and he has done an excellent job at portraying Harvey Pekar even when it comes to looks although the real Harvey comments "He looks nothing like me." Then we have his friend Toby, Toby is described by Harvey's wife Joyce as "borderline autistic" and he is a very strange man. He has an odd way of talking and is a self-confirmed nerd. He became famous in his own right thanks to Harvey's comics and this film and starring in the films Killer Nerd, Bride of Killer Nerd and Townies you can find videos of him talking about stuff like films etc on Lurid.com and he is very funny. He is the funniest character in the film and of course just as the real Harvey appears in the interludes so does the real Toby and yet again the guy who plays him (comedian Judah Friedlander) is spot on. His wife Joyce is played by Hope Davis and she is yet again a very accurate depiction of the real woman who is yet again also in the film. Joyce is a geeky character who works in a comic shop. She has a vast array of allergies and illnesses and is a highly unconventional woman.

The directing style of the film was excellent. The cutting between the film and reality was very well done and an original touch. At points the film will be going normally and the cut will be heard and Giomatti will walk off the set and walk off to where the real Harvey and Toby are standing watching. American Splendor is primarily a comic-book franchise and the film doesn't forget this. The opening credits are set out as a page of a comic book and some frames are live action whilst others are 2D drawings but all flowing together. A 2D version of Harvey also imposes on the live action as Harvey's thoughts or whenever needed. Throughout we have comic-book style captions now and again. True to Harvey's great interest in jazz music, jazz is played throughout the film and really works with it. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the directors, created something really great with this film. They went on to make The Nanny Diaries which isn't so bad but this is definitely the better of the two. Whilst making comparisons, this film could be seen as rather similar to Ghost World which is a film also based on a comic-book with similarly mundane inspiration. The character of Steve Buscemi in that not being completely dissimilar to Harvey in this. I don't know what came first as far as comic books are concerned but I do know that American Splendor is based on a real person whilst Ghost World isn't really but they could be quite independent of each other. I like them both but I like American Splendor better. If you liked Ghost World you'd probably like this.

The story is original as it is essentially a biography of a simple man. It of course concentrates on his comic book writing but it doesn't ignore Harvey's everyday tribulations as that is essentially what made American Splendor. It's an American Dream tale were Harvey never thinks he can achieve anything and even at the end he doesn't think he has but I think the evidence proves otherwise. I've never read the comic books so I can't compare but every time I watch this film I do take a notion for a while of wanting to read them as it is really intriguing that a book can sell so well about something so mundane. The writers and directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini were nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film, it lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King but I'm not sure if that's how I would have called it.

I recommend this film to everyone. Despite Harvey's gloomy character it's not a depressing film but a drama with a lot of funny bits. It has great acting, great music, great directing and is altogether a magnificent film.

DVD Extras

The Road to Splendor

A 3 minute video of Harvey going over to the Cannes Film Festival for the viewing of his film. It's funny in that the entire time he just doesn't cae about anything. Jean Claude Van-Damme walks past and he's asked if he wants to go meet him and he quickly says "no" as if they'd asked a stupid question. The basic essence of this video is that he doesn't care.

Harvey Pekar Meets BBC Collective

A 15 minute interview with Harvey Pekar that's really dull. If you watch the film you know all that is said and nothing new or interesting is said. Pekar makes no secret that he wants money from the film but that's why he wrote the comic books.

Behind the Scenes

Paul and Davis
Paul Giomatti and Hope Davis on set with the giggles for 1 minute 30 seconds

Genuine Nerd
Toby and the guy who plays Toby together. The actor who plays Toby, Judah Friedlander, is so different in real life. Toby commends Judal on his portrayal of him. A funny video of Toby.

Robert Crumb
They talk very briefly about the artist Robert Crumb

Blue Screen
50 seconds of some guy talking about blue screen

The Title Sequence
The same thing but 40 seconds and specifically concerning the title sequence

It cost a mere £3 in HMV. Definitely worth it.

Commentary
Harvey, his wife, his daughter, Paul Giomatti, Toby, the directors and half way through Judah Friedlander all give the commentary. Usually I'm not one for watching a film with commentary on but having enjoyed the characters of this film so much and seeing that they'd be doing the commentary I did give it a go. It's entertaining enough. Nothing amazingly new is learned. Toby is funny a couple of times. He gives little speeches about where to get the best hamburgers and donuts. Giomatti and the others play a spot the cat game. THe directors occasionally give a few bits of info on what it was like on the day. One slightly interesting fact I did find out is that the big church in the back ground was were the wedding scene from The Deer Hunter was set. Harvey keeps quite quiet and utters a few grumbles now and again, occasionally filling us in on the true story and what happened really.

Trailer

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi26123963 13/

Certification

15 due to strong language and sexual scene

. 

...less