American Splendor (2003)

Review by All Movie Guide
The best thing about the film adaptation of American Splendor is that it captures Harvey Pekar's unique voice, and the comic book's bristly tone. This is no small feat. Directors/screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini cannily integrate documentary footage of Pekar, his wife, Joyce Brabner, and others commenting on the film and the real events that the film depicts. A black-and-white animated version of Pekar also appears frequently. At one point, Pekar (Paul Giamatti) leaves Brabner (Hope Davis) in the green room to appear on David Letterman's show. Davis watches the monitor as actual footage of Pekar's appearance is seen on the monitor. The filmmakers sacrifice some narrative momentum with their technique, but it's well worth it because American Splendor ends up capturing Pekar in all his uncompromisingly grizzled glory in a way that a straightforward biopic wouldn't have. Pekar has always tried to avoid pandering to his audience, and to the filmmakers' credit, they don't try to soft-pedal him; even when dealing with a character's terminal illness, they avoid any kind of sentimentality. Giamatti delivers a wonderfully cranky performance in the title role, while Davis is dependably superb as the hypochondriac and insanely impulsive Brabner. James Urbaniak brings depth to what could have been a cartoonish role as comic book artist Robert Crumb, while Judah Friedlander is surprisingly spot-on as the genuinely cartoonish Toby Radloff, Pekar's longtime friend and co-worker. Pekar's brittle relationships with Brabner and Radloff set the tone for the film. These aren't lovable goofballs, so much as full-bodied characters of whom one's opinion changes, depending on how they're behaving in a particular scene. The filmmakers allow the viewer to make up his or her own mind about these complex people, and that is the best service they could have paid to Pekar's work. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide