American Splendor

Pros: Great acting, superb directing and a wonderful screenplay
Cons: Slow moving at points

American Splendor is a difficult film to describe. Is it a comedy or is it a drama? Is it a documentary, a pseudo documentary or completely fictional? The answer to every question is...Yes! Sure, that may seem confusing and contradictory, but ...

Pros: Freshness and creativity in the medium.
Cons: Characters are unlikeable and hard to relate with.

American Splendor tells the story of a semi-curmudgeonly middle-aged man (Paul Giamatti) who has turned his blase life into fodder for a successful comic book. That subject matter is not excessively interesting, but the what of the film isn't as ...

Pros: Acting, directing, screenplay.
Cons: Not for the average audience.

Let me be blunt: describing American Splendor is as daunting a task as trying to understand the movie on the first sitting: it’s hardly possible. I was lucky, though. I went to see the movie on a workday afternoon, and even though it has gotten r ...

Pros: The directing is superb. The acting is great resulting in a great character development.
Cons: At times, it is boring and depressing. But, it is so worth it.

The movie has been nominated for numerous movie awards, including the Golden Globe, Oscars, and others for directing and screenplay adaptation. It is nice to see such movies being successful with the critiques and public alike. I watched the movie ...

Pros: Great acting, original direction, and the music never surges with the emotion.
Cons: Doesn't come with the American Splendor graphic novel - at book stores now!

This is a great movie - I just watched it not 5 minutes ago, and I'm going to spill my thoughts onto the page (or the screen of my computer) This is the story of Harvey Pekar, who has had a tough life. Regular problems get him depressed, and he ...

Pros: James Urbaniak as R. Crumb
Cons: Everything Else

First of all, this movie is alternative cinema, and not for the typical audience. If you are a huge fan of movies that tend to go to #1 on the charts, then do yourself a favor and steer clear of this film. Now, if you're an auteur who enjoys something ...

Pros: Unique filming, combining drawings with actual acting then seamlessly blending in the actual people.
Cons: Perhaps too unique...not much story here.

You've likely seen the reviews, a man's alter-ego talking to him in comic book form, little drawings and balloons describing his thoughts as he struggles with day to day life. But as the true-life author says, his life is different and "gloomy," which is ...

Pros: Paul Giamatti
Cons: Slow Moving, Bad Plot, Sub-Par Acting

This movie was recommended to me after I had seen "Sideways". I was excited to see it, because the comic book writer scenario seemed very interesting to me.

The movie is about the life of Harvey Pekar, who is a comic book writer. It details his life immediatly before and after he started writing the comic book "American Splendor".

Paul Giamatti does a fine job in this movie, but that it is not enough to save this film. The biggest problem with the movie is that it moves way too slow. The plotline (and there isn't much of one) takes forever to move along, and the film has a redundant feel. Also, the acting in the movie (save Giamatti) brings the movie down.

Unless you are a fan of Harvey Pekar, I would not recommend this movie.

Pros: The last half and Hope Davis.
Cons: The first half and scary "Talk Soup" backgrounds.

I've never read the "book" American Splendor. However, I do remember seeing Mr. Pekar on Letterman and wishing Mr. P would just off the miserable bastard for being so patronizing. I am also a sometime, long time ago fan of Fritz the Cat. So, this film sparked some sentimentality in me. The first half hour of this comic art biopic is utterly horrific. It is slow and and lacks character developement for those not in the know. However, the film rapidly progresses towards success after the introduction of the wonderful Hope Davis as Mrs. Pekar. Everyman's tragedies are played out to perfection in the latter part of the movie. Honestly, do you really identify more with Tom Cruise or with the out of shape depressed guy frought with dysfunction and disease? Maybe I am dying or clinically insane but, Pekar is "US." And...that's the point. We are all living ordinary lives and never even hoping for things to turn out for the best. Pekar makes do with his psychoses and lives the best life he can. Kudos to the man who can survive as a cynic. Not a bad film for the open minded.

Pros: Original, funny, sad.
Cons: Protagonist is a slouching misanthrope.

I thought this was an audacious and interesting movie. It was funny (sometimes in that cover-your-face-because-it's-awkward kinda way) and touching. Can a movie succeed with a protagonist who is resigned to being a slouching, misanthropic file clerk? Surprisingly, yes. The sheer originality of the film — including some great "meta-theater", an excellent soundtrack and unprecedented integration of film and graphic novel media — really made it worthwhile for me. This movie is not for everyone, as I am sure the reviews will bear out. But if you like quirky and original flicks that shun formula, this is a good bet. And if you like graphic novels or comics, it's a must-see.

Pros: Hope Davis
Cons: Tedious black comedy

American Splendor is supposed to be based on a real person who leads a drab life as a file clerk and writes a comic book series about his life. Although well filmed with occasionally witty dialogue I don't need to be reminded of the dull tedious lives many people seem to lead. I go to the movies to be entertained. This film had me twitching in my seat!

Pros: Wonderfully different view of life, interesting characters.
Cons: None.

This was a refreshing movie with interesting characters and a diversion from the glam bam of most hollywoood movies coming out today.