American Splendor (2003)
Written and Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Starring and Featuring Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, Judah Friedlander and Harvey Peckar
101 mins / Fine Line Features / Rated R
Retail: $27.95 / Street: $19
by Alex Mestas 2/16/2003
More info: American Splendor
American Splendor DVD Cover
The Cover
This is another movie that requires a little explanation before I get things rolling. Harvey Peckar (pronounced pee-car) is a comic book writer who gained acclaim with his stories of everyday life in comics illustrated by famous cartoonists like R. Crumb. He also gained some notoriety in the 80's as an often-confrontational guest on Late Night with David Letterman.

I'd be hard pressed to categorize this as either fiction or non-fiction film. It's definitely biographical, using filmed fiction sections, interviews and animation to represent the rather unusual life of a rather grumpy man. Paul Giamatti becomes Harvey Peckar in American Splendor, inhabiting him, making you forget at times who’s even who. And like the real-life Peckar, Giamatti manages to balance that very fine line between miserable prick and interesting grouch. Tipped one way or the other Peckar would prove to be a hero we couldn't stand.

In American Splendor (a title taken from his comic of the same name) Peckar is about as normal and blue collar as you can get, even through his periods of fame and acclaim. Naturally, anyone who has all the responsibilities of celebrity with none of the perks would manage to be cranky as Pekar. Working in a VA hospital as a file clerk, Peckar is at once comfortable and at odds with his career. Given his rather unusual demeanor, he manages to keep friends from every walk of life. He's pals with Robert Crumb, who becomes a collaborator. James Urbaniak's Robert Crumb is really amazing - he gets the weird laugh right, the detatched persona, everything that we recall so fondly from the film Crumb. Even more strange, they reference the Crumb movie in American Splendor. Yet, on the complete opposite side of the celebrity scale, Peckar's friend Toby is a self proclaimed nerd who borders on autistic. I would almost think that Judah Friedlander's portrayal was over the top, had the real Toby not been involved in the movie. I could think of no more an apt definition of "nerd".

Which brings me to my favorite scene. As Giamatti films holds jelly beans in his hand for a closeup, the camera dollies back revealing that he's on a set. He gets "out of character" and takes a seat in the background as the camera turns it's attention to the real Harvey and Toby, both of whose filmic representations are sitting behind them. Harvey and Toby are caught in the middle of an unscripted conversation talking about nothing important, as Giamatti and Friedlander sit in the background, laugh and listen. It's inventive and moving in a strange sort of way. You start to squirm in your chair because you have a visceral reaction with what you're seeing on the screen.

American Splendor manages to elicit that kind of reaction out of every scene. It's an instant, moving, grumpy classic.

Movie Grade: A

Video: 4 out of 5
Despite the low budget nature of the film, this is a really beautiful transfer. Of course, much of the movie takes place in dreary Clevland, so there's not a lot of room for show off moments. But the sections that take place on the white soundstage (and shot in HDDV), look bright and beautiful. There's no grain or noise to speak of.
Widescreen Anamorphic - 1.77:1


The Real Peckar

Audio: 3 out of 5
Despite the presence of a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, it's not really too active except in scenes when the music takes over. Dialogue is well balanced and front heavy.
English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)

Extras: 3 out of 5
There's not too terribly much, but what there is is pretty good. The short featurette "Road to Splendor" runs about seven minutes, and chronicles what it was like for Harvey to support the film. Needless to say, his reaction is... grumpy. There's a song from the movie that's available from the extras menu. I would have liked to see more song choices. Finally there's the group commentary featuring Toby, Harvey, his wife Judy, Paul Giamatti and the directors. Conspicuously missing is the Sundance Channel's Anatomy of a Scene, which would have bumped the score up a point.

Overall: 4 out of 5
It takes a certain kind of person to enjoy seeing someone so grumpy for such a large amount of screen time, but with someone as inscrutable as Peckar, you can't help but remain glued to the screen. Highly recommended.

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