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) ...
(more)

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
Eli Ganias	...	Pahls
Sylvia Kauders	...	Old Jewish Lady
Rebecca Borger	...	Cashier
Nick Baxter	...	Mattress Guy #1
Allen Branstein	...	Mattress Guy #2
Dick Prochaska	...	WW II Patient
Charles Eduardos	...	Doctor
Judah Friedlander	...	Toby Radloff
Robert Pulcini	...	Bob The Director
Toby Radloff	...	Real Toby
Bianca Santos	...	Counter Girl
Maggie Moore	...	Alice Quinn
Hope Davis	...	Joyce Brabner
Mike Rad	...	Rand
Amy K. Harmon	...	Cheery Waitress
Joyce Brabner	...	Real Joyce
Donal Logue	...	Stage Actor Harvey
Molly Shannon	...	Stage Actor Joyce
Eytan Mirsky	...	Guitarist
Rob Grader	...	Stage Manager
Terrence Sullivan	...	Letterman Regular
Ebon Moss-Bachrach	...	MTV Director
Patrick Lafferty	...	Yuppie
Jesse Perez	...	Miguel
Jeff Peters	...	Talk Show Host
Ola Creston	...	PA #1
Robert J. Williams	...	Cancer Doctor
James McCaffrey	...	Fred
Madylin Sweeten	...	Danielle
Danielle Batone	...	Real Danielle
Jason Stevens	...	Letterman Regular Voice (voice)
Todd Cummings	...	Talk Show Host Voice (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcus Wynnycky	...	Comic Book Fan (uncredited)

Directed by
Shari Springer Berman
Robert Pulcini

Writing credits (WGA)
Harvey Pekar		comic book series American Splendor and
Joyce Brabner		comic book series Our Cancer Year
Shari Springer Berman		(written by) &
Robert Pulcini		(written by)

Produced by
Declan Baldwin	....	line producer: New York
Ted Hope	....	producer
Julia King	....	associate producer
Christine K. Walker	....	line producer (as Christine Kunewa Walker)

Original Music by
Mark Suozzo

Cinematography by
Terry Stacey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert Pulcini

Casting by
Ann Goulder

Production Design by
Thérèse DePrez		(as Thérèse Deprez)

Set Decoration by
Robert DeSue		(as Robert Desue)

Costume Design by
Michael Wilkinson

Makeup Department
Luisa Abel	....	makeup department head
Deanna	....	hair department head (as R. Deanna)
Deborah Lilly	....	hair swing (as Deborah R. Lilly)
Deborah Lilly	....	makeup swing (as Deborah R. Lilly)
Kathy Madison	....	additional hair
Kathy Madison	....	additional makeup

Production Management
Janet Fries Eckholm	....	post-production supervisor: Los Angeles (as Janet Eckholm)
Chip Signore	....	unit production manager: New York
Andy Wheeler	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eric Richard Lasko	....	second second assistant director (as Eric Lasko)
Matt G. Sheets	....	additional second assistant director
Chip Signore	....	first assistant director
Meryl Stavitz	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Doug Allen	....	original artwork
Greg Budgett	....	original artwork
John Alan Champion	....	swing gang (as John Champion)
Robert Crumb	....	original artwork (as R. Crumb)
Gary Dumm	....	original artwork
Jack Gardener	....	swing gang (as Jack Gardner)
Jason Gerstein	....	original artwork
Mindy Harris	....	property master
Dean Haspiel	....	original artwork
Matt Hausmann	....	art department intern
Todd Heckeler	....	art department intern
Kenneth J. Kellers	....	leadman (as Kenneth Kellers)
Lynn Kramer	....	props assistant
Donald Leigl	....	swing gang (as Donald J. Liegl)
Tema Levine	....	assistant to production designer
Dustin Lucien	....	art department intern
Dean Macur	....	props assistant
Shaina Malkin	....	art department intern
Deborah Marsh	....	art department coordinator
David W. Mooney	....	swing gang
Beth O'Brien	....	art department intern
Mike O'Neill	....	art department intern
Erika Rice	....	swing gang
Joe Sacco	....	original artwork
Gerry Shamray	....	original artwork
Frank Stack	....	original artwork
Diana Stoughton	....	on-set dresser
Matthew T.	....	art department production assistant
James E. Todd	....	swing gang
Joe Zabel	....	original artwork
Mark Zingarelli	....	original artwork: "Our Movie Year"

Sound Department
Ron Bochar	....	re-recording mixer
Mick Davies	....	boom operator (as Michael B. Davies)
Chris Fielder	....	transfer assistant
Albert Gasser	....	dialogue editor
Ruth Hernandez	....	first sound assistant
George A. Lara	....	foley supervisor
Whit Norris	....	sound mixer
Jay Peck	....	foley artist
Anne Pope	....	dialogue editor
Nicholas Renbeck	....	supervising sound editor
Jeffrey Stern	....	adr editor (as Jeff Stern)
Allan Zaleski	....	sound effects editor
Alexa Zimmerman	....	first sound assistant
Rick Ash	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Jamie Baker	....	adr recordist (uncredited)
Glenn Marullo	....	sound mixer (uncredited)
Unsun Song	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
John Kuramoto	....	animator: Twinkle
John Kuramoto	....	compositor: Twinkle
Gary Leib	....	animator: Twinkle
Gary Leib	....	designer: Twinkle
Patrick Clancey	....	digital opticals (uncredited)
John R. Ellis	....	digital cleanup artist (uncredited)
Steven J. Scott	....	digital intermediate colorist: EFilm (uncredited)
Michael J. Williams	....	digital opticals: Heavy Light Digital (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ian Axilrod	....	camera loader
Ian Carmody	....	camera intern
Ian Carmody	....	stills photographer: credit sequence stills
Oliver Cary	....	first assistant camera
Joe Cassano	....	dolly grip
John Clifford	....	stills photographer
Chuck Cocita	....	additional electric
Kiely Cronin	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as W. Kiely Cronin)
Kiely Cronin	....	second assistant camera (as W. Kiely Cronin)
Steve Drellich	....	camera operator
Alex Esber	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Alex Esber	....	second assistant camera
Dan Jarrell	....	key grip
Matthew Jennings	....	best boy grip (as Matthew E. Jennings)
Julie 'Doc' Lindstrom	....	company electric (as Julie Ann 'Doc' Lindstrom)
Alex Mangen	....	camera loader
Joseph L. McDermott	....	additional grip
George McDougal	....	additional electric (as George McDougall)
Frank McKeon	....	additional electric
Pat Meehan	....	24 frame playback
Jonathan Meyer	....	additional grip
Keith Nickoson	....	company grip
Lester Parker	....	company electric
Steve Ramsey	....	gaffer (as Steven Ramsey)
Christy Taddeo	....	additional electric
Michael F. Taylor	....	additional grip
John Turk	....	additional electric
Adam N. White	....	additional grip (as Adam White)
Russ Wulf	....	best boy electric (as Russell O. Wulff)
Jack Yager	....	company grip
Ron Zabarsky	....	additional electrician (as Ronald Zabarsky)
Rebecca Venezia	....	assistant camera: New York (uncredited)

Casting Department
Elizabeth Baird	....	principals casting assistant (as Liz Baird)
Sarah Katherine Christie	....	casting assistant
Kendall Embrescia	....	extras casting assistant
Marcy Ronen	....	extras casting: Cleveland

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kimberly Andrews	....	costume assistant
Robin Fields	....	key costumer (as Robin K. Fields)
Murshel Lewis	....	costume supervisor (as Murshel C. Lewis)
Sarah Silver	....	wardrobe intern
Adrienne Brown	....	wardrobe production assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Alfredo Frasson	....	color timer
Mitchell Gutman	....	post-production intern
Linus Hume	....	post-production coordinator
Julia King	....	post-production supervisor
Catherine Rankin	....	negative cutter
Tim Streeto	....	additional editor
Mila Patriki	....	colorist: dailies (uncredited)
Andrew Seklir	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Sanford Allen	....	featured musician: violin solo/concertmaster
John Beal	....	featured musician: bass
Linda Cohen	....	music supervisor
Dave Douglas	....	featured musician: trumpet
Butch Jones	....	additional music recordist: Back Pocket Recording Studios
Evyen Klean	....	music consultant
Bob Malach	....	featured musician: tenor sax
Josh Rosenblum	....	additional conductor
Derek Smith	....	featured musician: piano, organ, celeste
Ted Spencer	....	music recordist-mixer
Dale Stuckenbruck	....	featured musician: musical saw
Mark Suozzo	....	conductor
Mark Suozzo	....	music producer
Mark Suozzo	....	orchestrator
Ronnie Zito	....	featured musician: drums
Jamie Baker	....	music recordist (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Wayne Conway	....	transportation captain
Cheryl Dennis	....	driver
Tom McCue	....	transportation coordinator (as Thomas Titus McCue)
Russ A. Minerd	....	driver
Larry Spencer	....	additional driver
Roman Wlaszyn	....	picture car wrangler (as Roman A. Wlaszyn)
Andy Bethke	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Jeremy Bailey	....	assistant location manager
William Ball	....	additional craft assistant
Andy Bethke	....	set production assistant
Chad Bronson	....	set production assistant
Brian Cantaldi	....	bookkeeper
Alison S. Cohen	....	production counsel: Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, Hurwitz & Weinstein (as Alison Cohen)
Paula D. Collins	....	craft service assistant
Joseph Cortese	....	location production assistant (as Joe Cortese)
Rob Fegen	....	production administrative supervisor (as Robert Fegen)
Janell Fletcher	....	facility manager: Avid
Jennifer Zolten Freed	....	post-production accountant (as Jennifer Freed)
Jason Gerstein	....	office production assistant
Elisabeth Giglio	....	office manager: C 5
Lamia Guellati	....	assistant: Ted Hope
Jason Cooper Hall	....	assistant: Christine Walker
Virginia M. Herdman	....	craft service
Derrick Kardos	....	clearance assistant
Billy Lalor	....	clearance assistant
Robert Langhorst	....	assistant chef: Premiere Caterers
David Lemoyne	....	additional set production assistant (as David Lemoyne Jones)
Sara Lieberth	....	craft service
Eric Muss-Barnes	....	production assistant: cast
Jen O'Neal	....	additional production secretary
Chris Petro II	....	production assistant: cast
Ryan Polack	....	set production assistant
Amanda L. Preputnik	....	additional set production assistant
Michael Rochford	....	location manager (as Michael M. Rochford)
Elizabeth Rohrbaugh	....	set production assistant
Michael Santeramo	....	chef: Premiere Caterers
Michael Taylor	....	script supervisor
Melinka Thompson-Godoy	....	production executive: Good Machine
Lesley Ward	....	production secretary (as Lesley Ward-Zickefoose)
Becky Woodward	....	additional location production assistant
Devon Zeigler	....	set production assistant
Brian Dickson	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Jason Cooper Hall	....	assistant to cast (uncredited)
Kelly Lofstrom	....	contract administrator (uncredited)
Charles Moore	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Rebecca Thornell	....	clearance (uncredited)
Daniel Villagomez	....	credits administrator (uncredited)
Andy Wheeler	....	production accountant (uncredited)

Thanks
Norman Barr	....	special thanks: The Detroit Theatre
Jude Brennan	....	special thanks
Paul Brennan	....	special thanks (as Paul Brennan Esq.)
Bernt Amadeus Capra	....	the producers would like to thank (as Bernt Capra)
Chris Carmody	....	special thanks
Debra Greico	....	special thanks
Wayne A. Harold	....	special thanks (as Wayne Harold)
Robert Katz	....	special thanks
Walt Kelly	....	acknowledgment: the filmmakers acknowledge the creative work of
Anne Kuenzel	....	special thanks: Lakewood Hospital
Matt Loeb	....	special thanks
Lewis Payton	....	special thanks
Carla Raij	....	special thanks
Alicia Sams	....	special thanks
Adam Shulman	....	special thanks
Mary Jane Skalski	....	special thanks
Pam Smith	....	special thanks
Jim Stark	....	the producers would like to thank
Vince Waldron	....	the producers would like to thank

Production Companies

• Good Machine

Distributors

• HBO Films (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (presents) (as HBOFilms)
• Fine Line Features (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (presents) (in association with)
• Diaphana Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Polyfilm Verleih (2004) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Toshiba Entertainment (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Xenix Filmdistribution (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (2004) (USA) (DVD) (VHS)
• Madman Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Sunfilm Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Video Film Express (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Twinkle (animation)
• Twinkle (visual effects)

Other Companies

• AON/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services  insurance (as AON/Albert G. Ruben)
• Alco Vending Machines  special thanks
• American Humane Association, The  animals monitored by: AHA 00261
• Amy Joy Donuts  special thanks
• Arena Stage  the producers would like to thank (as The Arena Stage)
• Back Pocket Recording Studios  additional music recording (as Back Pocket Recording)
• C-5  mix facility
• C-5  sound editing
• C5  post-production sound services
• Caribou Coffee  special thanks
• Carol & John's Comic Book Shop  special thanks (as Carol & John's Comics)
• City of Cleveland  special thanks
• City of Lakewood  special thanks
• Clinton Recording Studios  music recorded at
• Collector's Warehouse  special thanks
• Comic World  special thanks
• Continental Airlines  special thanks
• DeLuxe Toronto  production dailies
• Denis Kitchen Ad Agency  special thanks
• Detroit Theatre, The  special thanks
• Du Art Digital  end crawl (as Duart Digital)
• Elmwood Bakery  special thanks
• Entertainment Partners  payroll services
• Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, Hurwitz & Weinstein  legal counsel
• Falco Ink.  award campaign (uncredited)
• Fantagraphics Books  acknowledgement: "Mr. Natural" and "Fritz the Cat" appear courtesy of (as Fantagraphics)
• Four Walls Eight Windows  acknowledgement: "Our Cancer Year" and "The New American Splendor Anthology" provided courtesy of
• Gene's Place  special thanks
• Haddad's  production vehicles
• Halloran Ice Rink  special thanks
• Heavy Light Digital  digital to film transfer
• Heavy Light Digital  opticals
• Independent Eye, The  acknowledgement: The First Live Theatrical Production based on the comic book "American Splendor" was produced by
• Lakewood Hospital  special thanks
• Major League Baseball Properties  trademarks: Major League Baseball items licensed by
• Music Television (MTV)  acknowledgement: "Toby Radloff News Footage" used with permission by (as MTV: Music Television)
• NBC Studios  footage: "Late Night with David Letterman" courtesy of
• New Line Records  soundtrack released by (uncredited)
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• Panavision  grip and electric equipment
• Pivotal Post  AVID system (uncredited)
• Pivotal Post  Avid provided by
• Pivotal Post  editing facilities (uncredited)
• Premiere Caterers  caterer
• RCA Victor  acknowledgement: Dave Douglas appears courtesy of (as Rca Victor Group)
• Shay's Restaurant  special thanks
• Sound One  mix facility
• TRS Recording  music mixed at
• Tenable Protective Security  security (as Tenable Security)
• The Cleveland Film Commission  special thanks
• Trevanna Post  post-production accounting
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  poster: "Revenge of the Nerds" courtesy of
• Twinkle  title sequence
• White Castle System  trademarks: White Castle items licensed by
• Zone Travel  special thanks

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:

Cameo: [Gary Dumm]longtime American Splendor artist is the gray-haired man getting his copy of "Our Cancer Year" autographed.

Goofs:

Factual errors: 38m00s into the DVD, there's a girl and a guy working in a comic store arguing about saving one issue aside for her whereas he sold all of them. Behind her are comics in protective covers, but standing upright on the wall on very thin shelves. A real comic store would affix the bags at the top edge, hanging them on the wall so that gravity doesn't cause the comics to "limp" and sag.

Quotes:

Harvey Pekar: Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Paul Giamatti/Ludacris featuring Sum-41 (#30.10)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Silent Morning

A down to earth character driven film that benefits from its colourful characters and clever use of the real people themselves

Harvey Pekar is a filing clerk at his local hospital; he is miserable; he is on his way out of a second terrible marriage and his only interests are collecting second hand records, reading and listening to jazz. However a chance meeting with aspiring cartoonist Robert Crumb turns him on to the ability of comic books as an art form. Crumbs later success inspires Harvey to write a different type of comic – one based on his own life, chronicling the dreary and absurd moments of his days and life. As his down to earth portrayal of working class reality starts to generate a cult following, Harvey finds a new wife and greater fame – but actual happiness? Well, that's a different story.

I have never read any of Pekar's comics and, to be honest, have little interest in the world of comics because I am consistently put off by the price of them for what you get (I'm a Batman fan but local prices for very thin comics are too high for me to start it as a habit). Despite this I was attracted to this film by it being different and offering me an interesting choice of leading man in Giamatti, but, given the very non-blockbuster appeal of the film, it was barely had any time in my local cinema and I missed it there and had to catch it on DVD. When I sat to watch it I was immediately taken in by the design of the film – the comic book opening and, more importantly, the narration and candid footage of the real Pekar (and others). This gives the film a much more interesting appeal because, although we don't know him, we get the total feeling that this is a real person we are seeing – and indeed he is.

Not having read the comic itself I can only go off what the film and other reviewers have told me they are like and, from that understanding, I feel that the film is stronger for having basically the same strengths as the comic. That is to say, it is very down to earth and gritty, without sparkling scenes or flowery dialogue but with a simple wit to the weird collection of characters. This warts and all presentation is moved forward by a pretty good narration from Pekar but the ultimate strength of the film is its collection of characters – like the comic, they are the story of Pekar's life and they are the heart of the film. It is hard to describe but the collection of bitterness, psychosis's, nerds and other weirdoes makes for a good film that is interesting, humorous and, most effectively, true.

Giamatti is not leading man material but here he shows that he is more that the comic relief and he delivers a really good performance throughout – not even letting the presence of the real Pekar put him off his stride. Pekar himself is also good – very easy to listen to but also unhappy and not the sort of person you talk to at work. The support cast is also pretty strong and features all manner of minor characters that make the film add up to greater than the sum of its parts. Like I said, it is hard to pigeonhole this film and the cast but it seems to work and even people who have never heard of Pekar (ie – me) will be able to enjoy it.

Overall a very different film about a strange little man who managed to get much more success than he ever though possible but yet never let it change his unhappy and normal ways. It is amusing, cleverly structured and populated with ordinary weirdoes who make it fun to watch. Kudo to the director for getting the uninitiated into the film with such ease and managing to produce a film that is surprisingly weird to find in a multiplex but one that is strangely accessible to most people.