I rented this movie based on the real ordinary but complex life of Harvey Pekar. He writes about his in the underground comic American Splendor. The movie is a very unique experience. Some scenes has a animated Pekar talking to the actor Pekar(Paul Giamatti) while the real Harvey comments and discuss about how much a loser he can be. The movie takes place in different worlds in a sense. There is the recording room. This is a white room with the cast and the real life Pekar, his wife Joyce, adopted Fifteen year-old daughter Danielle, and his nerdy friend that you can't help but love Toby Radloff. The movie world where the stories take place. Then there is Harvey's mind. We see this a couple of times in the form of comic strips to a room being drawn around him. The movie is more of a dark drama with some comedy involved. Those who loved movies like Lost in Translation, The Tao of Steve (great film, watch it), or even House of Sand or Fog will love it. If you don't like or care for them then you might as well skip it. The dvd has a bunch of secrets and also some neat DvD-Rom features. This is a must have for Splendor fans or drama fans.
I rented American Splendor and wasn't sure what to expect. I was thoroughly pleased though and ended up buying it on DVD. Harvey's friend is hilarious too, although I think I saw more comedy in the film than you did.
"I am a neeerd Harvey!"
I'm with Chopper, as this film was a perfect dark comedy. Paul Giamatti is fantastic as Pekar, the neurotic every man. I also thought that Hope Davis' acting in the film really complemented Giamatti's.
By far one of the best films that I rented last year; I hope to eventually getting around to buying it on DVD.
I like how they talk about his vasectomy. Hope Davis is really a great actress. Especially acting as though she's sick and tries to prevent headaches and stuff.
It's a pretty good DVD, though his wife comes off as really annoying in the commentary. I've been a fan of Pekar's comics for years and even remember his appearances on the David Letterman show.
It was probably the best movie I saw last year.
That's like one of my favorite movies cause I do comics myself. The Splendor comics are real good, better than some of the junk Marvel puts out, I think people need to get more aware of the alternative comics scene. You'll probably like the R. Crumb documentary too.
It is one of the best movies of the year. What is the name of the Crumb Documentary?
It's called "Crumb". http://www.uln.com/cgi-bin/vlink/043396106994IE.html
thanks
Crumb was a great documentary. I saw it years ago and it painted a great portrait of an artist and his dysfunctional family that could've dissapeared into obscurity if it weren't for filmmakers like Terry Zwigoff that care about having an eye for the oddness in life.