American Splendor
Composite Score: 84.27
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Earl Billings, James Urbaniak, Judah Friedlander, Toby Radloff, Hope Davis, Joyce Brabner, James McCaffrey, and Madylin Sweeten
Directors: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Writers: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama
MPAA Rating: R for language
Box Office: $7.99 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
American Splendor is the film adaptation of Harvey Pekar’s comic book series of the same name and the graphic novel he co-authored with Joyce Brabner, Our Cancer Year. The film tells Pekar’s story as he told it in his graphic novels, following his everyday exploits as a V.A. hospital clerk, two-time divorcee, and perennial pessimist. Portrayed by Paul Giamatti, Pekar’s everyman story takes us on a journey of achievement and redemption without ever feeling out of reach thanks to the author’s insistence on maintaining his own lifestyle and the constant cuts to the real-life Pekar and his companions to remind the audience of just how real and unreal the whole thing is. It’s a unique take on the biopic, blending fiction with reality and comic book film with documentary to give the audience a refreshingly optimistic look at the life of a chronic pessimist.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
American Splendor, in its desire to present a true-to-life story, falters at times in its character development, relying more on the real-life Harvey’s own statements and narration to give insight to the mental and emotional state of his past self. While this trope makes for some interesting fourth wall breaks, it can become frustrating when you want those character study moments. Giamatti’s performance is great, but the story written for him feels more like a series of disconnected episodes than a single man’s story.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
In all of the film’s disjointedness, it still manages to tell its story in a unique and engaging way. Where most biopics suffer from using the same tropes and formula, relying too heavily on their leading actor/actress to make the film work, American Splendor plays with the structure, embracing its source material’s comic book nature to visually and intellectually stimulate the audience, even as Giamatti is giving a strong performance as well. The way each shot feels drawn from the pages of its literary inspirations creates a sense of existing in both reality and a fictional comic world – giving the audience a sense of existing within the pages of American Splendor. It’s an artfully crafted comic book film to give the camp of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World a run for its money.
Not lost within the unique visual cues and make-up of American Splendor is Paul Giamatti’s performance as Harvey Pekar. With constant cuts away to and voiceovers from the real Harvey, the audience constantly has a gauge to measure Giamatti against, and it always feels great. While he may not look exactly like the real Harvey (a point Pekar is quick to make in his opening voiceover), he adopts the man’s mannerisms, vocal intonations, and even facial expressions with a level of skill often missed in biopics. Harvey Pekar is not your typical biopic subject, but Giamatti takes on the role of this everyday slovenly pessimist excellently and endears him to the audience despite lacking any wide-sweeping reason for us to feel that way.
With one of the most unique deliveries of a biographical story and a subtle but lovable turn from Paul Giamatti, American Splendor asserts itself as a truly unique and great film, worth watching for any fan of the medium. Its style might detract a bit from its substance, but the overall feeling the audience is left with is the one of Pekar’s life – not everything will be great or even good, but the people around us make life worth living anyway. This film is currently available to stream on Max for anyone wondering how to watch it.
