American Splendor (2003)

An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Directors:

Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini

Writers:

Harvey Pekar (comic book series American Splendor), Joyce Brabner (comic book series Our Cancer Year)

Stars:

Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 31 wins & 49 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his American Splendor a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait...

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Plot Keywords:

comic book | robert crumb | 1980s | dark horse comics | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Esplendor americano

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$159,705, 17 August 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$6,003,587, 30 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Good Machine, Dark Horse Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Harvey Pekar first guest stars on Late Night with David Letterman (1982), Joyce is in the waiting room with a man with an alligator (Terrence Sullivan). This was originally intended to be a cameo by John Waters.

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Goofs

The scene where Harvey gets stuck behind the old Jewish woman leaves out a detail that would help it make sense.

In the movie, she says that the glasses are 6 for $2, but she couldn't carry 12 last time,, so they should charge her only $1.50 for the additional 6. There is no explanation as to why she should be charged less.

In the story from the original comic, she says that the glasses are 6 for $2 or 12 for $3.50, but she couldn't get all 12 last time, so they should charge her only $1.50 for the 6 she is buying now.

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Quotes

Joyce Brabner: We are going to get through this. I understand illness. I know how to handle these things.

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Connections

Featured in The Hour: Episode #7.58 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Ain't That Peculiar
(1965)
Written by Bobby Rogers (as Robert Rogers), Smokey Robinson (as William Robinson Jr.),
Marvin Tarplin and Warren Moore
Performed by Marvin Gaye
Courtesy of Motown Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A True Super-Hero!

Throughout the years, people have read dozens of comic books: Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, The Green Latern, X-Men, Hulk, etc., looking for escape from reality, but at the same time, looking for a relation from those books. With "American Splendor" on the other hand, it's quite a different comic book. What makes it so special? It's depicting real life where it shows the character Harvey Pekar in different situations.

"American Splendor" is a comic/drama biography about the life of Harvey Pekar(Played by Paul Giamatti) in which the film plays like a comic book showing scenes that are real and fiction. Even the real Harvey makes appearances quite often in the film to talk about his life, his wife(Joyce) and everything that sort of made him the person who he is today.

Harvey Pekar can be described as one of those characters who don't seem to give a damn about the world. The reason that I root for this character is that he's the type person that lives in his own world, from not giving a crap about the incidents in the world, to not having a formal college education, to working at a dead end job where in the future, people are still laughing at him. And yet, I don't blame him. I am reminded of two other movies that had losers, but made an impact on male society: "The Big Lebowski" and "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" in which both male characters didn't have to worry about anything or go out on dates, or even pleasing society(shame on you, people).

All in All, American Splendor is a great movie. Though the film's target audience are for guys, I still encourage people to see this movie. The film also stars, Hope Davis portraying Harvey's wife, Joyce.

One of the Best Films!