American Splendor
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Written by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini (screenplay), Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner (comics)
Starring: Paul Giamatti, James Urbaniak, Hope Davis

What the hell… another damn movie that starts with the word “American”?? Although I suppose if anyone’s got a right to call a movie “American” something or other, it’s Harvey Pekar. Who is Harvey Pekar? Just an average working-class American guy, who decided to start an underground comic book about his average working-class American life and give it the tongue-in-cheek title American Splendor. Many years after he started this comic book series, two documentary filmmakers have finally decided to bring his average working-class American life to the big screen… and in doing so, show everyone that maybe he isn’t so average after all.

Harvey Pekar should be a name known to anyone already familiar with comic book artist Robert Crumb’s work (or the documentary “Crumb”). The two were pals and shared a love for rare jazz records, among other things. It was Crumb who first inspired Pekar to do his own comic book, and it was Crumb who first offered to illustrate his stories since Pekar couldn’t draw more than simple stick figures. Pekar was a guy who worked a mundane job as a file clerk and had been through 2 divorces, striving for something more constructive with his life. Unlike most comic book writers though, Pekar wasn’t writing about superheroes or funny animals… he was writing about himself and his own personal day-to-day experiences. Whether it be waiting in line at a supermarket or peddling used records to employees at work, it all found its way into the pages of American Splendor. Although the content sounds boring, it was Pekar’s self-deprecating, cynical sense of humour that made it such a refreshing read.

Much to his dismay, American Splendor did not make him rich, nor did it allow him to quit his day job. It did, however, put him in touch with his third and current wife Joyce, in addition to earning him a small amount of fame including a few appearances on the David Letterman show. Eventually he and his wife earned some book awards after they collaborated to turn the course of his cancer treatment into a graphic novel.

The movie takes an interesting approach to telling Pekar’s story. While Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini are both known for their past documentaries, they did not use a documentary format for American Splendor. The main chunk of the movie features Pekar’s life story re-enacted with Paul Giamatti portraying him, and Hope Davis as his wife Joyce. However, the real Harvey Pekar narrates throughout in his distinctively wheezy voice, and they also mix in bits and pieces of seemingly candid interviews with the real Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner, that appear to have been conducted on the set of the movie itself (often with Giamatti and other actors standing in the background). They also show actual panels from his comics on screen, and in some cases bring animated versions of the characters to life. This all adds up to a weird sort of self-aware, multi-layered film, and although it’s a little bit jarring at first, by the end I think it really pays off.

In general, the movie wasn’t quite as knee-slappingly hilarious as I thought it would be. Some of the funniest moments are just taken word-for-word from the comics, and yet, by the same token some of the scenes seem more effective in print than they do on-screen. The film adaptation brings more depth to Harvey’s life however. You get to see more than just the specific moments he chooses to write about, and for once you also get a slightly more objective view of things. Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis both do a great job of stepping into their characters, although James Urbaniak seems a little goofy in his portrayal of R. Crumb. The most consistently loveable character throughout the whole movie has got to be Pekar’s friend from work, Toby Radloff. A self-proclaimed “nerd” and social misfit, Judah Friedlander has some of the best lines in the movie as Toby (as does the real Toby, in the real life interviews).

The best thing about American Splendor is that it celebrates “real” people, and proves them to be a lot more interesting than a lot of the fantastical fairy tale stuff we see being manufactured all around us nowadays. Underground comic book buffs already have this movie on their must-see list I’m sure, but this is also essential viewing for anyone who likes quirky dark comedies or stories about the every man struggling to make his mark on the world. It’s one of the stand out independent movies I’ve seen so far this year, and I’m hoping it gets a wider release in the near future. — Sean