American Splendor

I have a confession to make: I don't much like Harvey Pekar. OK, a double confession: I haven't actually read more than two pages of his comics. And that must have happened when I wasn't at all in the mood for something depressing. He's a depressing (not depressive, big difference) personality. Sees everything in negative terms, but his way of dealing with that is to write amusing comics about his point of view. Very freeing for him, and many think they're a breath of fresh air, but I've never found them appealing. (Maybe because Robert Crumb was the first to draw his comics and I despise Crumb...which I guess is another story.) On the other hand, the film of his life and his comics is well worth watching. Mostly because of its uniqueness -- the real Pekar is in the film alongside Paul Giamatti's spot-on imitation of him, the comics are integrated throughout, and the style of the film never seems out of context with the subject matter. But also because of its humor. Even though its on the whole quite depressing, you have to laugh at his behaviors. My fave was his overt irritation while waiting behind an old lady in a checkout lane. I was nervous about how Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner, would be portrayed. Hope Davis pulls off her usual miracle here and what you see really is what I've heard about Brabner. Warts and all.

year: 2003
length: 101 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305206/combined