American Splendor (2003)
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 180
Fresh: 169 | Rotten: 11
Exhilarating both stylistically and for its entertaining, moving portrayal of an everyman, American Splendor is a portrait of a true underground original.
Average Rating: 8.6/10
Critic Reviews: 46
Fresh: 46 | Rotten: 0
Exhilarating both stylistically and for its entertaining, moving portrayal of an everyman, American Splendor is a portrait of a true underground original.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 43,366
Movie Info
The documentary directing team of Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman makes their narrative feature debut with the biographical comedy drama American Splendor. Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) is a comic book writer inspired by the work of his friend Robert Crumb (James Urbaniak). Pekar writes his comics about the sad monotony of everyday life, based on his own life in Cleveland, OH, working as a file clerk at a veteran's hospital and spending his time reading books and listening to jazz. He
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Cast
-
Paul Giamatti
Harvey Pekar -
Hope Davis
Joyce Brabner -
Harvey Pekar
Real Harvey -
Shari Springer Berma...
Interviewer -
James Urbaniak
Robert Crumb -
Judah Friedlander
Toby Radloff -
Earl Billings
Mr. Boats -
Joyce Brabner
Real Joyce -
Madylin Sweeten
Danielle -
James McCaffrey
Fred -
Danielle Batone
Real Danielle -
Maggie Moore
Alice Quinn
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All Critics (180) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (169) | Rotten (11) | DVD (26)
I can't imagine how the filmmakers went about it, let alone pulled the whole thing off, but their film comes together in unpredictable and remarkably pleasurable ways.
Top CriticA glorious rebuke to all this summer's recycled, effects-ridden, laboriously "fun" Hollywood disappointments piled along the wayside like so many crashed cars.
We're constantly kept on our toes regarding issues of representation while Pekar's sour but indefatigible working-class skepticism carries us along.
Hugely enjoyable and very clever portrait of Harvey Pekar.
It would be a mistake to regard American Splendor as an anthem for the common man. It is the uncommon that is being celebrated here.
If Harvey Pekar is a brilliant oddity so is the movie that tells his story.
Channels Pekar's vision of art and life as twinned struggles. One of cinema's great first-date sequences is here. We're splendidly shown how a lower-class nine-to-fiver has his own creative selves and richly expressive life.
Earthy, gritty and real; for older kids.
Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's biopic about Harvey Pekar - who injected schadenfreude into the superhero-comics world - wonderfully etches one man's exploration of using misery as a creative outlet and, eventually, a critical coping mechanism.
The rare artist biopic that goes beyond the dull march of events and actually illuminates the creative process.
The film gives a charming, funny, and many times engrossing account of Pekar which will surely please fans and garner some new ones and I liked it a lot.
American Splendor is certainly one of the most complete, satisfying and entertaining hybrid of documentary and dramatisation, as well as of live action and 2D animation/comic stills.
Un film assez lent, mais au récit tout de même fort bien construit
A life affirming experience, perhaps even a life changing one.
The movie is as unclassifiable as the comic -- neither documentary nor biopic, or maybe both.
Mr. Giamatti and Ms. Davis seem to feed off each other, bringing out the best performances we've seen from these actors.
If you can get through the confusing goings-on of the first reel, then this is a satisfying experience -- funny, touching and tragic by turns. And Giamatti deserves every award going.
The blend of styles results in an edgy, touching, original story about a working-class man who channels his gloom, grime and longing into comic art
I expected more from a movie that took home gold in Cannes and wowed 'em at Sundance.
Giamatti is excellent as Pekar and Hope Davis delivers another wonderful performance as Pekar's third wife Joyce.
American Splendor, despite being interesting and likeable, is a film that could be truly enjoyed only by the fans of Harvey Pekar's work
I was personally a little bored with this film, and didn't exactly get into this guy's life or so-called witty quips about every day life.
Audience Reviews for American Splendor
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Movies Like American Splendor
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- Harvey Pekar: Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.
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Latest News on American Splendor
May 22, 2013:
Comic Book Movies You Can Watch OnlineComic book movies are all the rage these days, and every year we see more of them hitting theaters...
July 12, 2010:
American Splendor Author Harvey Pekar Dead at 70Comic-book writer Harvey Pekar (PEE'-kahr), whose "American Splendor" was made into a 2003 film...
December 4, 2009:
Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated MoviesFive or six years ago, the Sundance Film Festival was more famous for showing dozens of worthy,...
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Harvey Pekar is a wonderfully rich character, and I kept watching it thinking of him as a blend of Art Spiegelman and Larry David; Paul Giamatti is perfectly cast.