American Splendor (2003) or, Happily Unhappy Together

9/30/2013

American Splendor (2003) or, Happily Unhappy Together

♥♥♥♥

Paul Giamatti as protagonist Harvey, struggling to compose his comics on a poster for Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini's American Splendor

Meet Harvey Pekar from Cleveland, Ohio. He's a file clerk, divorced, and more or less permanently unhappy. Then he begins to make up comic book stories based on his own life.

American Splendor is a biopic drama about Harvey Pekar, comic book author of the American Splendor (1976-08) comics. It is also a docu-type adaptation of these comics, and the real life Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner also appear shortly in the film as themselves. - They also act as narrators of their own story in what is a rare, innovative and successful mix of fiction and reality. It is the feature debut by master filmmaker marrieds, writer/directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (The Extra Man (2010)). Pulcini also edited the film, which is also adapts Pekar and Brabner's comic Our Cancer Year (1994).
Other meta-layers of Splendor go off less successfully; e.g. a scene of Paul Giamatti (Private Life (2018)) as Pekar getting lost in digitally created snow in a search of self.
But on the whole, American Splendor is funny and smart, and Judah Friedlander (Beware the Gonzo (2010)) is wonderful as a nerd in it. Watching it can be likened to watching a film and its making of documentary at the same time.

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini: Girl Most Likely/Imogene (2012) - Wiig is great as another dysfunctional woman in Berman & Pulcini's unfocused fare
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

The Extra Man (2010) - One of the year's best films is this overlooked comedy gem

Watch a 3-minute video of Pekar's appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman here

Cost: 2 mil. $
Box office: 7.9 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 3.95 times its cost)
[American Splendor premiered 20 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 101 minutes. The film was intended as a TV movie for HBO. Shooting took place in Ohio, including Cleveland, in the fall of 2001. HBO put up 0.5 mil. $ more for the post production finalization of the film. The film opened #37 to a 159k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it 16 and in 272 theaters, grossing 6 mil. $ (76 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 701k $ (8.9 %) and Australia with 287k $ (3.6 %). The film was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, lost to Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won an AFI award, a prize in Cannes, was nominated or 5 Independent Spirit awards, won 2 National Board of Review awards, a Sundance award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Berman/Pulcini returned with Wanderlust (2006, TV documentary) and theatrically with The Nanny Diaries (2007). Giamatti returned in The Pentagon Papers (2003, TV movie) and theatrically in Paycheck (2003); Hope Davis (The Newsroom (2012-13)) in The Matador (2005). American Splendor is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.29/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of American Splendor?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

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9/30/2013

American Splendor (2003) or, Happily Unhappy Together

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