Review of American Splendor (2003) by Hugo S — 23 Jul 2009

AMERICAN SPLENDOR (2003).

Dir. Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman.

Cast. Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, Harvey Pekar«Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.»Based on the underground comic book and the life of its creator, Harvey Pekar, American Splendor is a little gem of a film about ordinary life and how complex it can be.I remember seeing this in theatre, there wasnt many people but half of them walked out when the film introduces us to the first documentary intermission with the real Harvey Pekar, recording the voice over for the film about his own life. I thought it was quite original but Im guessing thats not what those people who walked out were expecting from this film. They missed something great.Pekar and his friends were really like real life characters and thats probably what made his comic book so successful, cause he really was just creating his comics from things that happened in real life. He was friend with Robert Crumb - Terry Zwigoff made a great documentary about that genius in the mid-90's - and thats probably what helped him get his comics made.Paul Giamatti is absolutely phenomenal as Pekar, he doesnt necessarly look like him but he takes his posture and his voice, as a comparaison we see the real Pekar in the film and they are so much alike. Hope Davis as his wife is, as usual, pretty good and together they make the oddest couple ever.American Splendor is simply great. The editing, as if it was a comic book, is cool and the soundtrack is pretty good as well. Its a funny film, sometimes hilarious and its moving when it needs to be. Its an unusual biopic and its one of my favorite film of that year.