Movie Review


I am one of 40 great grandchildren on my mother’s side. My great-grandmother had 17 children, and had 50 immediate grandchildren. Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of crazy aunts and uncles.
My favorite crazy aunt never forgets my birthday. She always sends a $2 bill, and a movie that she buys at the gas station up the street from her house. For the most part, these movies are second-rate comedy attempts that end up at Goodwill. Last year, though, my aunt sent me a movie called American Splendor, and it has become one of my favorites.
American Splendor is a dry comedy about a regular guy named Harvey Pekar. Harvey has a mundane job, and lives a somewhat mundane life. He collects albums, and comic books, and he lives alone. One day, Harvey begins realizing that he can find comedy in his everyday life, and starts writing his own comic books. They are a success in the underground comic book circle. The best part of this movie is that it is based on a true story. The real Harvey Pekar helped write the movie.
This film was incredibly inspiring and depressing at the same time. Pekar, played by Paul Giamatti, is the cookie-cut image of the ‘common man.’ The tag line of the movie, “Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff,” describes how many people feel on a daily basis.
We have all though about what it would be like to make a television series based on our own lives, but this man actually did it, and instead of television used a form of entertainment that only few can appreciate. After doing the research on the comic books, I found that the last issue of American Splendor was written and released in September 2008. Simplicity is a trend that never fades.
There are many stories that are brilliant, but because of the delivery, the full effect is not seen, heard, or felt. This is not the case in American Splendor. Beautiful shot composition, and lighting, mixed with some animation make for a very enjoyable experience. The commentaries in the film also add to the story as a whole.
Another thing that makes this story enjoyable is that the main character was not a hero who changed the world as we know it. He was a little-known V.A. Hospital file clerk. His story is not well known. I asked many people who lived during the time that the comic book was in circulation, and only a few people had a clue as to what I was talking about. The people that did know the American Splendor comic book knew it well.
While the movie tells a story, the real-life Harvey Pekar, and his wife Joyce narrate the story themselves. Having these two telling their own story in their own voices make it much more than a documentary or a typical “based on true events” tale. The casting was also on-point. Giamatti does such a justice to Harvey Pekar from his facial expressions, to his hunchback walk. His mannerisms mimic the real Pekar perfectly.
While this film was in independent film, it won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the International Critics Award at the Cannes Film Festival, both in 2003.
American Splendor is a good, clean, movie about a series of simple events. This is a movie worth buying and watching over and over again. It delivers hope in a rare form, and makes the viewer appreciate the simplicities of everyday life. My favorite part of the movie though, was in the packaging. Upon opening my birthday present, I found a copy of an American Splendor comic book entitled, My Movie Year.