AMERICAN SPLENDOR

OPTIMUM RELEASING

RELEASED 2 January 2004

Back in the early seventies, underground comicbook writer/artist Robert Crumb (about whom a documentary, ‘Crumb’, was released in 1994) urged his pal Harvey Pekar to write him some stories which he would illustrate. Harvey wrote about real life, from his job at the veterans hospital to his topsy-turvey marriage to Joyce. Titled ‘American Splendor’ (referring to his life in a deliberately ironic manner), Harvey is a blue-collar worker with a questioning, angry, yet humourous outlook on life. Harvey soon built up something of a cult following, although roughly turning out a measly one issue per year meant he couldn’t give up the day job. Gaining national fame on the David Letterman Talk Show (which he famously threw back in NBC’s face because of parent company General Electric’s ties to the arms trade), Harvey Pekar has rarely avoided any topic of his life, and he even wrote the story ‘Our Cancer Year’ in 1990, dealing with his successful battle against the big ‘C’. Harvey Pekar is still writing comics to this day.

Harvey Pekar is vividly brought to life by Paul Giamatti, and the film also mixes short pieces of footage of the real Harvey into the film, which does hurt Giamatti’s performance a little, just because the real thing is a such a larger-than-life character.

Backed up by a fantastic supporting cast of unusual friends (most notably self-confessed ‘genuine nerd’ Toby Radloff), the directors Bob Pulcini and Shari Springer have crafted an affectionate and very funny look at a truly original man, which garnered awards at the Cannes, Edinburgh and Sundance film festivals. It’s never suggested otherwise that Pekar can be a royal pain in the arse, but it’s the courage of his convictions and his sheer cycnicism which draw you into the film. 

FOUR OUT OF FIVE