American Splendor DVD > Reviews > Comic Relief

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	A complete original
Disadvantages:	Some may find it difficult to enjoy a film that flies in the face of cinematic conventions

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As chat up lines go “You might as well know right off the bat, I had a vasectomy” is pretty out there, but then Harvey Pekar isn't your average leading man.

'American Splendor' is almost a biopic, the story of the life of Cleveland everyman and VA file clerk Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti). Harvey is not the kind of man people usually make movies about, Harvey is a despondent, borderline obsessive compulsive, curmudgeon, he collects records (and previously comics), he is generally unremarkable. One of the few things that gives Harvey joy in life is the hollow thrill of a garage sale, the possibility of finding a prized 78 for 25 cents. It is at one such garage sale that Harvey meets Robert (Bob) Crumb (James Urbaniak), soon to become the acclaimed author of such comics as ‘Fritz the Cat’, having a lot in common (records and comics mainly) the men become fast friends. When Bob’s blossoming career as a comic book artist and writer takes him to San Francisco Harvey is inspired by his friend’s success (and his own dissatisfaction) and starts to write his own comic, a sort of diary of the little frustrations that hamper his existence. Unfortunately Harvey can only draw stick men, fortunately he is a friend of one the most renowned comic book artists in recent history and Bob offers to illustrate Harvey’s stories. The first issue of ‘American Splendor’ is published in 1976 and becomes a cult smash. Over the intervening 17 years the comic brings Harvey: a wife (Hope Davis), a foster daughter, an off Broadway play of his life, an American Book Award for the graphic novel he writes with his wife, a recurring guest spot on the ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’ and most recently a filmed biography…not bad for a miserable File Clerk from Cleveland.

This film is extraordinary in every sense of the word. There is nothing ordinary in the way writer/directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini tell us the story of Harvey Pekar the most spectacular ordinary man you’re ever likely to meet. The film is a mixture of documentary style interviews with the real Pekar and his wife Joyce, comic book interludes and the more traditional filmed biography with actors portraying Pekar and those important in his life. The script is electric; funny, moving and always honest, we segue between (the real) Harvey narrating in the present, Giamatti’s Harvey chatting with his buddy Toby (Robert Pulcini) in the fictional past, the real Harvey and Toby chatting at a hospitality table in the present and then back to Giamatti, or perhaps to a comic version of an event in Harvey’s life. The narrative takes inspiration from Harvey’s writing style and although not totally linear the chronology is kept fairly straightforward and the structure is surprisingly simple (despite the flips between film and reality). The dialogue is masterful, frequently not there to drive the plot it is the interactions between Harvey (both real and filmed protagonist) and the people that inhabit his life that make the film (like Harvey’s comics) truly sparkle. The screenplay is consistently funny, not feeling like an overly constructed string of punch lines, but too funny to be reality it feels like a really great comic book.

HARVEY: …They sure got a lot of meat on this menu
JOYCE: You’re a vegetarian?
HARVEY: Kinda. I mean ever since I got a pet cat, I couldn’t eat animals anymore.
JOYCE: Hmm. I support and identify with groups like PETA, but unfortunately I’m a self-diagnosed anaemic. Also, I have all these food allergies to vegetables that give me serious intestinal distress. I guess I have a lot of borderline heath disorders that limit me politically when it comes to eating.
HARVEY: Wow. Yer a sick woman, huh?
JOYCE: Not yet. But I expect to be. Everyone in my family’s got some kind of degenerative illness.

The direction is just as special as the script. When dealing with the dramatised portions of Harvey’s life the film has a sepia tinge that creates a very seventies feel. Though naturalistic (like the script) it has a faded visual style which sets it apart from the present. Those portions where Harvey and Joyce (and occasionally Toby) are interacting in documentary style in the present are shot on a white stage with limited props almost leaping from the background like a comic come to life. The most unusual visual element is perhaps the use of ‘animated’ Harveys. ‘American Splendor’ was illustrated by a number of different artists and their 2D visions of Harvey are all here whether transposed into the narrative sections and interacting with the actors or as straight copies of pages from the comic flashed up on screen. This works incredibly well and is combined with a use of comic frames and panels in the filmed sections to create a sense that although this is a biopic it is also an adaptation of a comic and a far more self conscious one than similar filmed adaptations of this type of work like the more conventional ‘Ghost World’.

Once you’ve seen the film it becomes obvious that there is no way you could have made a film of Pekar’s life without him being a part of it. Pekar’s voice is loud and clear (if a little horse) in the film and yet the dramatised sections never feel false, even when intercut with real footage of the younger Harvey (such as his now notorious appearances on the Letterman show). This is because of the incredible quality of performances that fill this film with such humour and warmth. Paul Giamatti (thanks to his distinctly non leading man looks) has followed the admirable path of the character actor so far limiting his career to supporting roles in the likes of ‘Man on the Moon’ and ‘Paycheck’. In this leading role he doesn’t disappoint. The challenge of playing a man who appears in the film must have been formidable, but Giamatti never gives in to the temptation of doing a Pekar impression. He captures the essence of Pekar completely and imbues the character with a genuine flawed heroism that elicits exactly the right mix of admiration and pathos from the audience. In the script Harvey’s wife Joyce comes across as a somewhat unsympathetic character, a self-diagnosing hypochondriac wannabe revolutionary (who’s unable to get off the sofa) certainly didn’t appeal to me. There is something unsettling about the way she railroads into Harvey’s life and to be honest I didn’t want to like her, this is what makes Hope Davis’ performance all the more impressive. The screenplay presents an obviously simplified version of Joyce, where she has become almost a caricature but Davis manages to make her Joyce the witty, defiant, strong, real woman that saves Harvey Pekar. Instead of falling into the trap of nagging, neurotic Davis gives us passion and pragmatism. The chemistry between them is real and their love story is not Hollywood but it is heartfelt (and works beautifully when interwoven with the real Joyce and Harvey bantering in the present). The one performance that seems unbelievable is Judah Friedlander as Harvey’s work colleague (and ultimate nerd) Toby, that is until we are introduced to the real Toby and discover Friedlander is pitch perfect! It is to the credit of each fine performance that the past (though seen through the eyes of Pekar’s comics) never feels anything less than real.

There is nothing that is less than fantastic in this film, from the eclectic jazz soundtrack and score that perfectly mirrors Harvey’s record collection to the production design which keeps costumes and sets authentic without drifting into Technicolor 70s and 80s nostalgia. Somewhere between a documentary, a biopic and a comic book, ‘American Splendor’ is a magnificent film unlike anything I have seen before. The husband and wife team of Berman and Pulcini has created a work of art that defies categorisation and pushes the boundaries of cinema. They’ve also made a film about an ordinary man that will make you laugh, cry and think. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a masterpiece.

For more information, downloads, trailers and pages from Harvey's comics visit

http://www.americansplendormovie.com/main.html

Reflecting the quality of the film it's everything you could want from an official site.

For Harvey, Joyce and Danielle's (their foster daughter) weblogs visit

http://www.harveypekar.com/

Which is crying out for an update, but contains some interesting insights nonetheless.

"No matter how many excellent reviews of “American Splendor” have been written; no matter how many prizes (Sundance, Cannes and others) it’s won, I still worry about it doing well commercially. So much seems to hinge on that. If my writing can be sold through a movie, maybe people will start buying it directly in book form, More editors will hire me and the financial uncertainty of my old age will be reduced. So I’m really concerned about how “American Splendor” is received over the next several weeks. Highbrow critics have really liked it at festivals and special showings, but what will the others think? What will the general public think? We’ll all find out in a month or so. If my work doesn’t start selling better in some way or another my last years are going to be spent bugging editors of arts and entertainment weeklies if I can write $25 record reviews for them. I’ll be an old man, scrambling for nickels and dimes."

If that isn't good enough reason for you to invest in a rent I don't know what is

 

Pictures for the review

Display pictures

Harvey, real and fake