American Splendor

With yesterdays passing of comic book writer Harvey Pekar, I've been thinking a lot about the biopic on his life called "American Splendor". Is it actually a documentary? I certainly think so. The film was directed by a pair of documentary film makers, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. It is a based on Pekar's own autobiographical underground comic book that goes by the same name. Yes, it does 'star' Paul Giamatti in the role of Pekar, a role that allowed the great actor to flesh his talent into a brilliant figure of comic neurosis and pessimism. However, the film also features real documentary-style interviews of the actual Harvey Pekar interspersed throughout, which I suspect are there secondarily to actually commend Giamatti's portrayal of a real life caricature. Lastly, the film also features cartoon renderings of the great curmudgeon, which highlight the various styles and takes of Pekar that the comic book artists utilized over the years.

Harvey Pekar is America's greatest antihero, a file clerk in a veteran's hospital by day, a slacker turned comic book artist by night. Pekar is a man from the gritty streets of Cleveland where he's lived all his life. In the 'American Splendor' series, Pekar has turned himself into a comic book hero, a man who fights the daily struggle of finding your house keys, filing papers, and taking out the trash. When Pekar's writing caught on and he began getting featured as a guest on the Late Night with David Letterman, Pekar just found more fodder for his comic, transcribing every detail of his life into a graphic novel.

Featured in the film is his wife, Joyce Brabner, portrayed in the film by Hope Davis. Joyce was actually Pekar's third wife, but the single most significant person in his life, and she helped him co-author the American Splendor special, "Our Cancer Year", which focuses on Pekar's battle with testicular cancer. From the near death encounter came a daughter, Danielle, a foster child, thus fulfilling Harvey Pekar's own American Dream.

"American Splendor" is a deeply layered film, from the brilliant acting to the disjointed storytelling. The film is warm, dramatic, and very funny. perfectly capturing the essence of a man who had the audacity to declare: "Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff".