Excerpts from “American Splendor”
An excerpt from “An Actor’s American Splendor”
In the film, the real Pekar pops on screen and becomes the narrator. There is a major comparison the real Pekar and Giamatti’s portrayal of him. Pekar went through a grumpy, depressed time in his life which is clearly present in this movie.
The role of the frumpy, miserable, unhappy Pekar is not Giamatti’s first time attempting this type of role. In the film “Sideways”, Giamatti plays the role of a depressed, irritable man, going through the “Crap” of life with his best friend. “Sideways” was thought to be a spin off of the “Odd Couple” series.
An excerpt from “American Splendor”
It’s not unusual for people to connect; with situations they have seen happen over and over again. Harvey Pekar, the author of the comic American Splendor, took his soap opera-like life, and gave it to the world to enjoy. American Splendor highlights the trials and tribulations of Pekar’s life. Many people thought it was amazing and ingenious to take real life and make it funny, while others gave it the thumbs down.
An excerpt from “Pecker or Pekar”
Pekar had never thought about having children, but Danielle brought happiness into this life with Joyce. They too are now characters in American Splendor. The two women in his life helped him through his year of lymphoma cancer (Wikipedia, Harvey Pekar). Brabner and Pekar made the graphic novel title Our Cancer Year. It showed their battle with Pekar’s cancer and what he went through.
An excerpt from “The Real Harvey Pekar”
Harvey Pekar has been said to be a juvenile delinquent, college drop out, failed army recruit, and a record hustler, but he is best known as a comic writer.
An excerpt from “Paul Giamatti: A Splendid Actor
“Everything from his facial expressions and body language to the way he read his lines screamed depressed. Giamatti captures the audiences’ attention right from the start, when you see this man walking down the street with this look of disgust on his face.”
- Ryan DesRoches
Filed under: American Splendor Reviews
Interesting Article…