Talking To The Screen
American Splendor
Harvey Pekar is the everyman of the burgeoning information age. The lowliest cog of The Machine. He is a file clerk at a Cleveland Veteran?s hospital. He is a compulsive collector of vinyl records and comic books. After meeting Robert Crumb (writer/illustrator of counter-culture cult animated movie of the ?70s ?Fritz the Cat? and subject of biographical documentary ?Crumb?) at a flea market, he begins writing an autobiographical comic titled American Splendor. Later, he and his wife cooperate toward documenting his battle with cancer in the graphic novel, Our Cancer Year.
I complained (at length) about the ills of the biopic genre in reviewing ?Auto Focus?, so I?ll keep it brief here. Biographical movies are inherently annoying. Worse than the mediatization of truth that the documentary entails, the biopic dons a second veil by employing actors and screenwriters to further fictionalize the reality it purports to present. ?American Splendor? avoids this major pitfall of the biopic by not trying to tell the story of Harvey Pekar?s life. It is a film adaptation of Pekar?s comics. By using Pekar?s own self-reflective writings as source material, and Pekar?s raspy voice as self-aware narration, ?American Splendor? assumes a timbre of autobiograpy as opposed to misrepresentation.
Paul Giamatti, who I recognize from his brilliant portrayal of Pig Vomit in ?Private Parts? and trailers of the Frankie Muniz teen irritation, ?Big Fat Liar?, is completely engaging as Harvey Pekar. I?ll admit I was slightly nervous about Giamatti?s ability to single handedly carry a film; previously, I had only seen (or even envisioned) him as the comic foil. All trepidation vanished at the first cut to the genuine Pekar doing a voiceover take in a stylized set of a sound studio. Giamatti had captured not only Pekar?s instantly recognizable rasp of a voice but the earthy grit of a man cynical to the core of a dream that past him by. Hope Davis is very effective as Pekar?s wife, Joyce, but is frankly overpowered by Giamatti.
?American Splendor? doesn?t shy away from the fact that it is a fictionalization of a man?s life. It embraces it. Real people, the bases of the characters, appear in asides from the narrative. True media of Pekar, his friends and family are used at times in place of dramatizations. By enjoying and playing with it?s layers of re-documentation, ?American Splendor? becomes an effective film and an engaging retelling of Harvey Pekar?s life?on his terms. Pekar is gruff and offensive and unintentionally funny and unintentionally touching. All this and more, the full spectrum of an extraordinary everyman?s life and work is transmitted through ?American Splendor?.
I complained (at length) about the ills of the biopic genre in reviewing ?Auto Focus?, so I?ll keep it brief here. Biographical movies are inherently annoying. Worse than the mediatization of truth that the documentary entails, the biopic dons a second veil by employing actors and screenwriters to further fictionalize the reality it purports to present. ?American Splendor? avoids this major pitfall of the biopic by not trying to tell the story of Harvey Pekar?s life. It is a film adaptation of Pekar?s comics. By using Pekar?s own self-reflective writings as source material, and Pekar?s raspy voice as self-aware narration, ?American Splendor? assumes a timbre of autobiograpy as opposed to misrepresentation.
Paul Giamatti, who I recognize from his brilliant portrayal of Pig Vomit in ?Private Parts? and trailers of the Frankie Muniz teen irritation, ?Big Fat Liar?, is completely engaging as Harvey Pekar. I?ll admit I was slightly nervous about Giamatti?s ability to single handedly carry a film; previously, I had only seen (or even envisioned) him as the comic foil. All trepidation vanished at the first cut to the genuine Pekar doing a voiceover take in a stylized set of a sound studio. Giamatti had captured not only Pekar?s instantly recognizable rasp of a voice but the earthy grit of a man cynical to the core of a dream that past him by. Hope Davis is very effective as Pekar?s wife, Joyce, but is frankly overpowered by Giamatti.
?American Splendor? doesn?t shy away from the fact that it is a fictionalization of a man?s life. It embraces it. Real people, the bases of the characters, appear in asides from the narrative. True media of Pekar, his friends and family are used at times in place of dramatizations. By enjoying and playing with it?s layers of re-documentation, ?American Splendor? becomes an effective film and an engaging retelling of Harvey Pekar?s life?on his terms. Pekar is gruff and offensive and unintentionally funny and unintentionally touching. All this and more, the full spectrum of an extraordinary everyman?s life and work is transmitted through ?American Splendor?.