American Splendor
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Movie Reviews of American Splendor
Movie Review: Splendid "Splendor"
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is wonderful. It manages to be both stylistically daring and genuinely touching. Harvey Pekar is such a fantastic protagonist because he's so heartbreakingly ordinary. Lonely, overwhelmed, unlucky in love and stuck in a dead-end job, Harvey decides to turn his humdrum life into a comic book, and ends up becoming a cultural icon that ordinary people everywhere can relate to. His romance and marriage to Joyce is one of the most touching and heartwarming screen romances I've seen in a long time. And when Harvey inadvertently becomes a television celebrity by becoming a regular on the David Letterman Show, he quickly finds himself disgusted by the whole charade and sabotages it (the scene with Pekar having a disturbing on-air argument with Letterman is one of the most intense scenes in the film). The film brilliantly combines the fictionalized story of Harvey, portrayed by actors, with real footage of the people being portrayed, as well as animation inspired by the comic book. In the process, the ordinary people portrayed become fascinating, hilarious and endearing.Movie Review: Not a some guy.
Summary: 5 Stars
Check this out. This is mostly a biopic about underground comic book creator, Harvey Pekar, but there are some documentary elements thrown in as well. The REAL Harvey Pekar narrates this fantastic film even criticizing the filmmakers for picking a guy (Paul Giamatti) that he claims looks nothing like him. There are times throughout the movie where we're treated to the real Harvey, his wife, and friends in an interview format. Harvey Pekar eventually made it all the way to David Letterman in the '80s. Instead of recreating the scene on film, the filmmakers instead used the actual footage from the show.We all love Harvey. It's kind of hard not to. He's just some guy trying to live his life while wading through all the BS and stupidity that surrounds him. He gets so sick of it that he finally puts it down in the form of a comic book. The rest is history. Absoulutely one of the best films of 2003. Check it out.
Movie Review: You have to Try the Pina Coladas!
Summary: 5 Stars
The most entertaining, and certainly of the most original films of the past year! American Splendor is about Harvey Pekar, a file clerk at a hospital in Cleveland, and how he began to document his life by means of the underground comic book scene. The actual Harvey Pekar narrates the film, and is in the film during the Letterman scenes (which are hilarious), and as the camera takes the viewer to Harvey for an occasional brief interview. Paul Giamatti plays Harvey in his younger years, and does a bang-up job, as the sarcastic, gloomy file clerk. Hope Davis does an outstanding job as well as Joyce (Pekar's wife- who also appears in the film briefly).
This is a must see for all who are tired of little old ladies in the checkout lines, Hollywood films like "revenge of the Nerds which, according to Pekar, don't accuratly portray what real nerds have to go through, and stupid people.
Movie Review: Nowhere Man
Summary: 5 Stars
The Plot: Harvey Pekar took his dead-end life as a file clerk in the early Eighties and became a minor celebrity by basing a hit cult comic around himself. From the difficulties of being stuck in line at a supermarket through to battling Cancer, his work is brilliantly portrayed as the film uses a mix of animation, the perfectly cast Giamatti, while blending both archive footage and recent narration by the real life Pekar perfectly. Standout Scene: As reality is suspended briefly the actors take a backseat to listen to Pekar & the supremely funny Toby Radloff take centre stage.
Any Good? Pekar once called out David Letterman's talk show as manipulative shtick and American Splendor makes no bones about giving one in the eye to the establishment too. This is a genuinely funny film from the ultimate `anti-American-Dreamer,' and should definitely not be missed.
Movie Review: NOWHERE MAN...
Summary: 5 Stars
The Plot: Harvey Pekar took his dead-end life as a file clerk in the early Eighties and became a minor celebrity by basing a hit cult comic around himself. From the difficulties of being stuck in line at a supermarket through to battling Cancer, his work is brilliantly portrayed as the film uses a mix of animation, the perfectly cast Giamatti, while blending both archive footage and recent narration by the real life Pekar perfectly. Standout Scene: As reality is suspended briefly the actors take a backseat to listen to Pekar & the supremely funny Toby Radloff take centre stage.
Any Good? Pekar once called out David Letterman's talk show as manipulative shtick and American Splendor makes no bones about giving one in the eye to the establishment too. This is a genuinely funny film from the ultimate `anti-American-Dreamer,' and should definitely not be missed.