Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 179
Fresh: 168 | 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: 42
Fresh: 42 | 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: 41,305
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
Aug 15, 2003 Wide
Feb 3, 2004
$6.0M
Fine Line Features
All Critics (181) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (171) | Rotten (11) | DVD (25)
A 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.
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.
Pulcini and Berman have inventively rethought the notion of the biopic, and the results are audacious.
The kind of movie that sticks with you for days, your admiration growing each time you remember it.
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.
Hugely enjoyable and very clever portrait of Harvey Pekar.
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.
Berman and Pulcini's portrait of Pekar is primarily an affectionate one, finding nobility and heroism amidst the unhygienic details
Real Harvey: If you think reading comics about your life seems strange, try watching a play about it. God only knows how I'll feel when I see this movie. "Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff."American Splendor is a very inventive and original biography. The movie jumps through time with its character, Harvey Peckar,
November 28, 2011
Super Reviewer
I am a great fan of Harvey Pekar and was excited when I first sat down to watch this hand made bio-pic of the legendary comic book character. I think the casting could have been stronger, but aside from that the construction of this film is of the highest quality. As one of the most cynical and down on his luck
November 16, 2010Super Reviewer
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