Directed by
Starring Paul Giamatti, Hope
“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.”
-Harvey Pekar
Underground comic book hero Harvey Pekar has made a career in a way that most people only wish they could be so creative. After a failed marriage, constant poor health, the continual lack of money, and years as a file clerk at a Cleveland hospital, Pekar managed to take all of his wadded up anger, frustrations, disillusionment, bewilderment, and general distaste for his quality of life and create “American Splendor,” an underground comic book that he penned while infamous artist Bob Crumb drew the illustrations, as well as Our Cancer Year, a graphic novel he co-wrote with his wife, Joyce Brabner, during his stint as a cancer patient that went on to win a National Book Award and massive critical claim and a continual appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.
The film, which is almost as
colorful as Pekar himself is directed by husband and wife team Shari Springer
Berman and Robert Pulcini and has gone on to win the Grand Jury Prize at this
year’s Sundance Film Festival, screenings at Cannes, and nationwide critical
acclaim. It is easy to see why. Drawing upon a variety of techniques, each one
equally creative and unique, Berman and Pulcini have created a film that Pekar,
who, at one point during the film, claims that he is “unsure of how he will
feel about the movie,” himself would have to endorse. This is mostly because
the film is really told from his point of view. Not only do we have Paul
Giamatti, in a truly astounding performance, playing
Throughout the film, exaggerated black and white drawings of Pekar from the comic books pop up to make commentary on particular scenes, such as when Harvey is stuck in a supermarket line behind a slow, complaintitive elderly woman, or when other characters envision their idea of Harvey, such as when his wife, Joyce, is to meet him for the first time in a train station and she runs through all of the possibilities of what he might actually look like (all of the artists who draw Pekar for the comic book sketch him differently). The film is told in various different chapters. For the first half of the film, documentary-style interviews with the actual Pekar prologue the scenes. As the film moves forward, the comic book formatted lines are the introductions. We get parts of Harvey’s story, from the end of his first failed marriage, to his various years in the Cleveland hospital as a clerk, to his friendship and eventual partnership with Crumb, to his years of despair and loneliness, to his eventual marriage to Joyce Brabner, a quirky, comics-obsessed fan whom Pekar admits was both a challenge and “his match.”
What is so peculiar, as the Marvin Gaye song played throughout the film reveals, is not Harvey’s success, though his story is not very common, but more the fact that Pekar, a man who would tell you to your face about how miserable his existence is, really has a life that most would envy. He has an entourage of oddball friends, both from the hospital and his years in the comic book trade that are fiercely loyal, he has a wife and adopted daughter that obviously love him, and he has captured the hearts of the disenfranchised with his offbeat publication. The filmmakers here make a wonderful statement at the film’s end as we see documentary footage of Pekar with his family and friends at an event that I will keep a secret, as voice-over footage from Pekar talking about how he feels about his life is heard.
In the acting department, the film could not be any better. Giamatti proves himself a tremendous actor, not just a talented, quite often, comedic supporting character actor, and gives Pekar life. A scene where the real Pekar and Giamatti happen to be on camera at the same time reveals just how deep his portrayal really goes. Hope Davis, whom with this film, The Secret Life of Dentists, and About Schmidt, is quickly becoming the queen of American independent films. Just watch her angry performance in Schmidt, her elusiveness in Dentists, and her loveable, but no-nonsense work as Brabner in American Splendor and you can see what an enormous talent she is. The supporting cast is equally as impressive. James Urbaniak, as Crumb, is terrific, Earl Billings as Mr. Boats, an overly critical gentleman that works alongside Pekar at the hospital is terribly funny, and Pekar himself commands his moments on screen. The absolute scene-stealer, however, is Judah Friedlander as Toby, Pekar’s file clerk buddy and self-proclaimed nerd. When paired on screen with the real Toby as Giamatti is with Pekar, the similarities are almost frightening. Friedlander’s performance is fitfully funny and yet astonishingly touching all at once. And, by God, you will not be able to keep a straight face as he praises the virtues of Revenge of the Nerds.
This summer has seen an abundance of comic book characters, most of them anti-heroes. Harvey Pekar is the first one that you can relate to. He does not have super human strength, he cannot leap tall buildings in a single bound, and he makes no attempt at being virtuous. Instead, he has wit, a sense of humor about the mysteries and miseries of life, and a catalyst (his comic book) that he uses to duke it out with his insecurities and shortcomings, much like Woody Allen has been doing for years with his films. Harvey Pekar is fascinating. So is the movie about his life.