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Mood:
- CleverOffbeatSincereStylizedTouchingWittyCynicalHumorous
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Plot:
- Artist's LifeWriter's LifeRising To StardomHuman NatureFall in LoveArtists and ShowbizLifestyleLove and Romance more...
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Genres:
- ComedyDramaIndependent
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Time/Period:
- 20th Century50s60s70s80s
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Place:
- OhioUrban
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Praise:
- Award WinnerCritically AcclaimedEssentialOriginalPrestigious AwardsSundance Festival Winner
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Style:
- NonlinearVoice Over
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Humor:
- Irreverent Humor
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Based on:
- Based on ComicsBiographyBased on True Story
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Attitudes:
- Semi SeriousRealisticSlow
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Score:
- Jazz
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Look:
- Animation & Live Action
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Flag:
- ProfanitySexual Content
Does this gene fit American Splendor?
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American Splendor, 2003
English
USA
Profile of American Splendor
The mood of American Splendor is cynical, clever, and offbeat. The plot centers around the life of a writer, rising to stardom, and human nature. It features irreverent humor. American Splendor is a drama, comedy, and independent movie. Stylistically, it is nonlinear and includes a voice over. In approach, it is realistic. The pacing of American Splendor is slow. It takes place, at least partly, in an urban environment. The setting is Ohio. American Splendor happens in the 1950s, in the 1960s, and in the 1980s. Visually, it includes animation and live action. The musical score is jazz. American Splendor is adapted from a comic, drawn from a biography, and originally a true story. The movie is known for being a Sundance Festival winner, original, and essential viewing. Note that it includes sexual content and profanity.
Summary of American Splendor
Harvey Pekar, the hilariously downtrodden Cleveland comic book artist, is the subject of American Splendor, titled after Pekar's autobiographical series. Played by actor Paul Giamatti, Pekar also appears as himself, giving the film a documentary feeling with many behind-the-scenes on-set shots. Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini maintain this balance between the actors and the real-life characters--Pekar's wife Joyce and coworker Toby also appear on set as themselves--while crafting a funny, difficult, heartwarming tale that encapsulates Pekar's life, work, and uniquely bizarre perspectives.
Pekar is a pessimistic file clerk with no hope of ever rising above his boring job, slobbish apartment, and bad attitude. Wonderfully set in his ways, Pekar's constant self-deprication is clearly a front for his prolific interests in music and art. When his friend Robert Crumb (James Urbaniak) gets his big break as a comic book artist, Pekar decides to try his hand at the craft. Though he can't illustrate, his stories are good, and Crumb agrees to help draw the pictures. Soon several artists are illustrating Pekar's American Splendor series, and the comic book's readership grows. The film continues through the events of Pekar's life--meeting wife Joyce Brabner, appearing on David Letterman, struggling with cancer, and adopting a daughter--always showing Pekar's no-frills approach to life. A creative and punchy film, American Splendor invites viewers into the odd world of Pekar and his comic-book antihero persona.
Details
| Language: | English |
| Country: | USA |
| Release date: | 20 January 2003 |
| Runtime: | 101 min |
Cast and Crew
as Real Harvey
as Real Joyce
as Harvey Pekar
as Joyce Brabner
Photos
Clips
Critics Reviews
USA Today
- |
- by: Mike Clark
Washington Post
- |
- by: Desson Thomson
Users Reviews
- 18.March.2009
- |
- by: johnfgillson
- johnfgillson rated this movie
10/10Must See
- 16.August.2008
- |
- by: Noa
- Noa rated this movie7/10Good
