| Reviewer Roundup |
| 1. |
 | Steve Rhodes |
| review follows |
|   |
| 2. |
| Susan Granger |
| read the review |
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Review by Steve Rhodes
2½ stars out of 4
There's a lot to admire in the innovative cinematic construction of AMERICAN
SPLENDOR but not much to like unless you're a fan of the autobiographical
comics on which it is based. Harvey Pekar, whose mundane life is chronicled in
his "American Splendor" comics, is an ordinary working-class guy whose day job
is as a hospital file clerk. The movie has everything from traditional talking
head interviews to documentary footage of Pekar on the "Letterman Show," but
most of the film is a dramatization with Paul Giamatti playing Harvey and Hope
Davis playing his wife Joyce. Sometimes the movie sets the action inside comic
book frames, and, at other times, comic book figures come to argue with
Giamatti as Harvey. This cornucopia of approaches certainly attempts to
enliven what is otherwise an admittedly commonplace story. I never laughed or
even smiled, but, to be honest, I've never found this reality brand of comics
funny, entertaining or even the least bit interesting.
"I'm just a gloomy guy," Harvey confesses to his wife during the film. After
our screening, Harvey, who was there, was asked if he was finally able to enjoy
his life now that he had gotten a bit more fame and fortune from this film. "I
might be on the cusp of enjoying it now," he said, not very convincingly.
As the movie's ever-present narrator, Harvey makes the story feel more like a
documentary than a dramatized biography. His very scratchy voice produces a
fingers-across-the-blackboard experience that ends up detracting as much as it
adds to the production. He has lived such a relatively hardscrabble life that
it's easy to understand his overwhelming sense of sadness and depression. His
comic book stories are clearly meant to give some meaning to humdrum lives
everywhere. His unabashed lack of self-esteem becomes almost liberating for
him as he champions the world's underdogs. Still, my respect for the film's
techniques and for the man himself did not translate into an enjoyment of the
motion picture.
AMERICAN SPLENDOR runs 1:40. It is rated R for "language," which I never even
noticed. The film would actually be fine for all ages, but a kid would
probably need to be at least ten in order to appreciate it.
Copyright © 2003 Steve Rhodes
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out of 4
