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American Splendor

  • 20032003
  • RR
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
50K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Paul Giamatti in American Splendor (2003)
Home Video Trailer from HBO Home Video
Play trailer2:20
2 Videos
72 Photos
  • Biography
  • Comedy
  • Drama

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

IMDb RATING
7.4/10
50K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Shari Springer Berman
    • Robert Pulcini
  • Writers
    • Harvey Pekar(comic book series American Splendor)
    • Joyce Brabner(comic book series Our Cancer Year)
    • Shari Springer Berman
  • Stars
    • Paul Giamatti
    • Shari Springer Berman(voice)
    • Harvey Pekar
Top credits
  • Directors
    • Shari Springer Berman
    • Robert Pulcini
  • Writers
    • Harvey Pekar(comic book series American Splendor)
    • Joyce Brabner(comic book series Our Cancer Year)
    • Shari Springer Berman
  • Stars
    • Paul Giamatti
    • Shari Springer Berman(voice)
    • Harvey Pekar
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 233User reviews
    • 192Critic reviews
    • 90Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 31 wins & 50 nominations total

    Videos2

    American Splendor
    Trailer 2:20
    American Splendor
    American Splendor
    Trailer 2:25
    American Splendor

    Photos72

    Paul Giamatti in American Splendor (2003)
    Hope Davis in American Splendor (2003)
    Hope Davis and Paul Giamatti in American Splendor (2003)
    Harvey Pekar in American Splendor (2003)
    Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner in American Splendor (2003)
    Judah Friedlander and Paul Giamatti in American Splendor (2003)
    Paul Giamatti and Sylvia Kauders in American Splendor (2003)
    Paul Giamatti in American Splendor (2003)
    Judah Friedlander and Paul Giamatti in American Splendor (2003)
    Judah Friedlander, Paul Giamatti, Harvey Pekar, and Toby Radloff in American Splendor (2003)
    Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner at an event for American Splendor (2003)
    Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner at an event for American Splendor (2003)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Paul Giamatti
    Paul Giamatti
    • Harvey Pekaras Harvey Pekar
    Shari Springer Berman
    Shari Springer Berman
    • Intervieweras Interviewer
    • (voice)
    Harvey Pekar
    Harvey Pekar
    • Real Harveyas Real Harvey
    Chris Ambrose
    • Supermanas Superman
    Joey Krajcar
    • Batmanas Batman
    Josh Hutcherson
    Josh Hutcherson
    • Robinas Robin
    Cameron Carter
    • Green Lanternas Green Lantern
    Daniel Tay
    • Young Harveyas Young Harvey
    Mary Faktor
    Mary Faktor
    • Housewifeas Housewife
    Larry John Meyers
    • Throat Doctoras Throat Doctor
    • (as Larry John Myers)
    Vivienne Benesch
    • Lanaas Lana
    Barbara Brown
    Barbara Brown
    • Nurseas Nurse
    Earl Billings
    Earl Billings
    • Mr. Boatsas Mr. Boats
    Danny Hoch
    Danny Hoch
    • Martyas Marty
    James Urbaniak
    James Urbaniak
    • Robert Crumbas Robert Crumb
    Eli Ganias
    • Pahlsas Pahls
    Sylvia Kauders
    Sylvia Kauders
    • Old Jewish Ladyas Old Jewish Lady
    Rebecca Borger
    • Cashieras Cashier
    • Directors
      • Shari Springer Berman
      • Robert Pulcini
    • Writers
      • Harvey Pekar(comic book series American Splendor)
      • Joyce Brabner(comic book series Our Cancer Year)
      • Shari Springer Berman
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey's cult celebrity stature. —Sujit R. Varma
    • comic book
    • robert crumb
    • 1980s
    • dark horse comics
    • husband wife relationship
    • 192 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.
    • Genres
      • Biography
      • Comedy
      • Drama
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      NBC would not lease out the actual Late Show with David Letterman (1993) footage where Harvey Pekar finally lashed out at David Letterman, so the scene had to be recreated with actors.
    • 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.
    • Quotes

      Real Harvey: I felt more alone that week than any. Sometimes I'd feel a body lying next to me like an amputee feels a phantom limb. All I did was think about Jennie Gerhardt and Alice Quinn and all the decades of people I had known. The more I thought, the more I felt like crying. Life seemed so sweet and so sad, and so hard to let go of in the end. But hey, man, every day is a brand new deal, right? Just keep on working and something's bound to turn up.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Le Divorce/The Housekeeper/American Splendor/Open Range (2003)
    • Soundtracks
      Paniots Nine
      Written by Peter Dolger

      Performed by Joe Maneri

      Courtesy of Avant Records

    User reviews233

    Review
    Top review
    Tricky part-biography, part-documentary that seems effortlessly funny
    Paul Giamatti plays Harvey Pekar, a writer of underground comic books that document his mundane life as a neurotic file clerk. We meet the other nerds and eccentrics who populate his life, including his fat, bespectacled co-worker with a habit of over-enunciating his words; a black co-worker who buys record albums from Pekar but accuses him of selling nothing but junk; and a female fan of his comics who throws up on her first date with him then announces they should dispense with the courtship and just get married. (He accepts the proposal on the grounds that he's lucky to have any woman who will have him.) Pekar meets Robert Crumb, who illustrates the first of Pekar's comics. He becomes a favored guest on David Letterman until delivering a vituperative rant against Letterman and NBC that gets him barred from the show.

    "American Splendor" is mostly a dramatization, but has scenes interspersed where we meet the real Harvey Pekar and the real people in his life. The movie contains many piquant moments, including a scene where the actors and their real-life counterparts appear together on a soundstage. In another scene, Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar exits the green room of the Letterman show, followed by a real clip of the real Pekar on the real show. But when Pekar delivers his rant, we see Giamatti with an actor playing David Letterman. We also see an animated Pekar conversing with the real Pekar—or, rather, with Giamatti playing the real Pekar. The movie's visual design makes it look like a mobile comic book; many scenes are bridged with shots of the camera sweeping over comic panels that bridge the story for us.

    This had to have been tricky to pull off, but the movie feels effortless. The nature of identity and the nature of reality are themes the movie presents with a lot of humor and insight. Giamatti is excellent and supported by a uniformly fine cast, especially Hope Davis as Joyce Brabner, the woman who threw up on their first date. I also enjoyed the jazz songs on the soundtrack. What a funny, entertaining, intelligent movie.
    helpful•3
    2
    • J. Spurlin
    • Dec 8, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 12, 2003 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Huy hoàng kiểu Mỹ
    • Filming locations
      • Cleveland, Ohio, USA
    • Production companies
      • Good Machine
      • Dark Horse Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $6,010,990
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $159,705
      • Aug 17, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $7,986,084
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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