American Splendor (film)
- Shari Springer Berman
- Robert Pulcini
- American Splendor
by Harvey Pekar - Our Cancer Year
by- Harvey Pekar
- Joyce Brabner
- Ted Hope
- Christine Kunewa Walker
- Julia King
- Declan Baldwin
- Paul Giamatti
- Hope Davis
- Judah Friedlander
companies
- HBO Films
- Good Machine
- January 20, 2003 (2003-01-20) (Sundance)
- August 15, 2003 (2003-08-15) (United States)
American Splendor is a 2003 American biographical comedy drama film written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. The film, which chronicles the life of comic book writer Harvey Pekar, is a hybrid production featuring live actors, documentary, and animation. It is based on the 1976–2008 comic book series of the same name written by Pekar and the 1994 graphic novel Our Cancer Year written by Pekar and Joyce Brabner.[3] The film stars Paul Giamatti as Pekar and Hope Davis as Brabner.[3] It also features appearances from Pekar and Brabner themselves (along with Pekar's long-time co-worker Toby Radloff),[3] who discuss their lives, the comic books, and how it feels to be depicted onscreen by actors.
The film was filmed entirely on location in Cleveland and Lakewood in Ohio.[4]
American Splendor premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2003, and was released in the United States on August 15, by Fine Line Features. The film received critical acclaim. It was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 76th Academy Awards.
Plot
On Halloween 1950, 11-year-old Harvey Pekar refuses to dress up as a superhero for trick-or-treating. Years later, Harvey is seen walking the Cleveland streets, and the real Harvey Pekar appears in a documentary-style setup. In 1975, Harvey visits a throat doctor, exhibiting hypochondria. His wife mocks their lifestyle and leaves him. At his file clerk job at a VA hospital, Mr. Boats offers advice from an Elinor Wylie poem.
In a documentary scene, the real Harvey discusses his part-time used-record collecting/selling. Flashing back to 1962, Harvey meets shy illustrator Robert Crumb at a yard sale, bonding over jazz and comics. Returning to 1975, the now-famous Crumb visits Cleveland. Frustrated and single, Harvey has a sobering moment in the VA hospital's "deceased" files, leading him to write his own stories. Inspired by an incident at the supermarket, he stays up all night writing. At a diner, Harvey shows Crumb his comic scripts, and Crumb offers to illustrate them.
Harvey publishes eight issues of American Splendor to critical acclaim but little financial gain, remaining a file clerk. He reconnects with Alice Quinn, a former college acquaintance, and they discuss Theodore Dreiser's novel Jennie Gerhardt, but he leaves feeling lonelier.
Meanwhile, in Delaware, Joyce is frustrated with her partner in the comic book store, who has sold her copy of American Splendor No. 8. She begins corresponding with Harvey, who eagerly responds. They realize they are kindred spirits, and she travels to Cleveland to meet him. After a dinner date, Joyce becomes ill at his apartment, leading to Harvey's care. Joyce suggests they skip courtship and marry.
A week later, Harvey sees his colleague Toby Radloff eating in his car, heading to Toledo for a screening of Revenge of the Nerds. Harvey heads to Delaware to marry Joyce and help her move to Cleveland. The real Joyce Brabner discusses becoming a character in Harvey's stories.
Married, Harvey and Joyce attend Revenge of the Nerds with Toby, which Harvey finds insipid. Back at their apartment, Joyce complains about Harvey's possessions but their argument is interrupted by a theater producer wanting to adapt American Splendor into a play. After its Los Angeles debut, Harvey's success grows, complicated by Joyce's emotional struggles and desire for children. A producer offers Harvey a guest spot on Late Night with David Letterman. Harvey's appearances are a hit, and Toby becomes an MTV star.
In Cleveland, Harvey is recognized from Late Night, rather than American Splendor, which angers him. Joyce seeks fulfillment and travels to a peace conference without Harvey's permission. One night, Harvey discovers a lump on his groin.
With Joyce away, Harvey returns to Late Night wearing an "On Strike Against NBC" shirt, causing chaos. Joyce returns, discovers Harvey's lump, and he is diagnosed with lymphoma. She suggests making a comic book about it, but he resists. She enlists Fred, an artist, to illustrate the experience. Fred brings his daughter Danielle, whom Joyce adores. Harvey reluctantly agrees to participate and asks Fred to keep bringing Danielle.
Harvey's treatment is grueling. He questions if he is real or a comic character and ponders the story's end if he dies. Harvey dreams of other Harvey Pekars in the phone book. A year later, Harvey and Joyce sign the completed Our Cancer Year, and he is declared cancer-free. They adopt Danielle, and Harvey adjusts to parenthood. The real Harvey retires from the VA hospital, and the staff holds a retirement party where Joyce, Danielle, and Harvey embrace.
Cast
- Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar
- Daniel Tay as young Harvey
- Donal Logue as stage actor Harvey
- Hope Davis as Joyce Brabner
- Molly Shannon as stage actor Joyce
- Judah Friedlander as Toby Radloff
- James Urbaniak as Robert Crumb
- Harvey Pekar as himself
- Joyce Brabner as herself
- Toby Radloff as himself
- Earl Billings as Mr. Boats
- Maggie Moore as Alice Quinn
- James McCaffrey as Fred
- Madylin Sweeten as Danielle
- Gary Dumm (a long-time illustrator for American Splendor) as The Extra (in a suede jacket), who asks Pekar for his autograph in the Our Cancer Year book-signing scene
- Eytan Mirsky as The Guitarist
- Josh Hutcherson as Kid dressed as Robin (his first feature film appearance)[5]
- Chris Ambrose as kid dressed as Superman
- Shari Springer Berman (voice) as Interviewer
- Robert Pulcini as Bob the director
Production
The film was originally intended to be screened on HBO. The script was written before the September 11 attacks, was cast right afterward, and shot in about a month in the fall of 2001.[6]
Though Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini had directed documentaries before, American Splendor was their first narrative feature. Of the film's alternating of fictional portrayals with real-life appearances by Pekar and his friends and family, co-writer/co-director Pulcini recalled,
"It really was the only way that made sense to tell that story because we were handed this stack of comic strips where the main character never really looks the same because he's drawn by so many different artists. We wondered how to stay true to the material, and that's the concept we came up with. The structure came out of that very naturally. It wasn't something that we labored over."[7]
Berman added that upon meeting Pekar they felt compelled to include him in the film:
"We also got to know Harvey even before we wrote the screenplay. We actually went to Cleveland and spent time with Harvey and Joyce, and spoke to them on the phone a lot. Once we spent some time with both of them, we were like, 'Oh my God, we have to put them in the movie!' That was a case where we were still using our documentary instincts and had to figure out a way to include him in it that was a natural fit for the material."[7]
Artwork from actual American Splendor comics and Our Cancer Year appears in the film; some scenes use artwork replicated by cartoonist Doug Allen.[8] Animated sequences were produced by Gary Leib.[9]
At one point, Pekar meta-references the structure of the film by doing a voice-over for a one-shot of Paul Giamatti playing him by saying "There's our guy. Well, it's me. Or the guy playing me. Though he don't look nothing like me, but whatever." (Pekar and Brabner had been approached previously by actors interested in playing Pekar on film, including Rob Schneider.)[10]
David Letterman refused to appear in the film, and his old network of NBC did not allow the filmmakers to use footage of Pekar's disastrous fourth and sixth appearances on Late Night (aired July 31, 1987 and August 31, 1988, respectively), though they had no problems with the other Pekar appearances that are shown in the film.[11] The supposed "final appearance" was done using oblique camera angles and a voiced-over audio of the incident.[12] (In actuality, Pekar returned for two more appearances on the Letterman show in 1993 & 1994.)[11]
The film's original production budget was $1.5 million, and as the film was coming together, HBO gave the filmmakers more money for post-production, animation, and music.[6][2]
Music
Mark Suozzo wrote the film's score.
Music played in the film mostly reflects Pekar's affection for avant-garde jazz and American music from the 1920s and 1930s. A couple of songs by American Splendor illustrator Robert Crumb and his band are also featured.
The American Splendor (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was released by New Line Records in 2003, and featured the following songs:[13]
- "Paniots Nine" — Joe Maneri
- "Blue Devil Jump" — Jay McShann
- "Chasin' Rainbows" — R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
- "On the Sunny Side of the Street" — Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio
- "Oh, Lady Be Good!" — Dizzy Gillespie
- "Ain't That Peculiar" — Marvin Gaye
- "Looking Suite: The Shortest Weekend / After Alice (So Sweet, So Sad)" — Mark Suozzo/Global Stage Orchestra
- "Stardust" — Dizzy Gillespie
- "Hula Medley" — R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
- "T'aint Nobody's Bizness If I Do" — Jay McShann
- "My Favorite Things" — John Coltrane
- "Time Passes Strangely: Cancer Treatment / Retirement Party" — Mark Suozzo
- "Ain't That Peculiar" — Chocolate Genius
The following songs — in whole, or in part — are used diegetically in the film:
- "Soul Power" — Captain
- "Big Ed" — Mark Cherrie
- "Know Your Rights" — The Clash
- "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" — Rupert Holmes
- "American Splendor" — Eytan Mirsky
- "Silent Morning" — Noel
- "All Black and White" — written by Clair Marlo & Alexander "Ace" Baker
- "I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time" — The Andrews Sisters
- "My City Was Gone" — The Pretenders
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 94% rating based on reviews from 186 critics, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Exhilarating both stylistically and for its entertaining, moving portrayal of an everyman, American Splendor is a portrait of a true underground original."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 42 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[15]
Roger Ebert awarded the film four stars out of four in his review, calling it a "magnificently audacious movie, in which fact and fiction sometimes coexist in the same frame." He remarked "the casting of Giamatti and Davis is perfect", writing that they "mastered not only the looks but the feels and even the souls of these two people", as well as praising Friedlander's performance. He also found the film "delightful in the way it finds its own way to tell its own story", describing its presentation as "mesmerizing in the way it lures us into the daily hopes and fears of this Cleveland family."[16]
American Splendor won the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, in addition to the award for Best Adapted Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America. At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, the film received the FIPRESCI critics award.[17] American Splendor was given the Guardian New Directors Award at the 2003 Edinburgh International Film Festival.[18] It was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2003 Academy Awards.
Columnist Jaime Wolf wrote a laudatory review of the film in Slate, also drawing attention to formal parallels with Woody Allen's Annie Hall and his other films.[19]
Harvey Pekar wrote about the effects of the film in various stories published in American Splendor: Our Movie Year (2004).[20]
Accolades
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | [21] |
American Film Institute Awards | Movie of the Year | American Splendor | Won | [22] |
Awards Circuit Community Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Nominated | [23] |
Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics | Grand Prix | American Splendor | Nominated | |
Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Screenplay | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | [24] |
Cannes Film Festival | FIPRESCI Prize (Un Certain Regard) | American Splendor | Won | [17] |
Central Ohio Film Critics Association | Best Screenplay, Adapted | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Won | [23] |
Best Supporting Actress | Hope Davis | Nominated | ||
Chicago Film Critics Association | Most Promising Filmmaker | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | |
Best Actor | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | ||
Best Actress | Hope Davis | Nominated | ||
Best Film | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | ||
Chlotrudis Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | [23] |
Best Movie | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
Best Director | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | ||
Best Actor | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Hope Davis | Nominated | ||
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards | Russell Smith Award | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | [23] |
Best Actor | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | ||
Best Picture | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
Deauville American Film Festival | Critics Award (Prix de la Critique Internationale) | American Splendor | Won | [23] |
Grand Special Prize | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
Edinburgh International Film Festival | Guardian New Directors Award | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | |
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards | Pauline Kael Breakout Award | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | [23] |
Ghent International Film Festival | Grand Prix | American Splendor | Nominated | [23] |
Gijón International Film Festival | Best Feature | American Splendor | Nominated | [23] |
Gold Derby Awards | Adapted Screenplay | American Splendor | Nominated | [23] |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Hope Davis | Nominated | [25] |
Golden Trailer Awards | Best Voice Over | Harvey Pekar | Nominated | [23] |
Gotham Awards | Breakthrough Director Award | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Won | [23] |
Independent Spirit Awards | Best Film | American Splendor | Nominated | [26] |
Best Director | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | ||
Best Male Lead | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Male | Judah Friedlander | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | ||
International Online Cinema Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Nominated | [23] |
London Film Critics' Circle | Screenwriter of the Year | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Nominated | [23] |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association | Best Film | American Splendor | Won | [27] |
Best Screenplay | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | ||
Montréal Comedy Festival 'Just for Laughs' | Festival Prize | American Splendor | Won | [23] |
National Board of Review | Breakthrough Performance by an Actor | Paul Giamatti | Won | [23] |
Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | ||
National Society of Film Critics | Best Film | American Splendor | Won | [28] |
Best Screenplay | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | ||
New York Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | Hope Davis | Won | [29] |
Best First Film | American Splendor | Won | ||
Online Film & Television Association | Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Nominated | [23] |
Best First Screenplay | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Nominated | ||
Best Titles Sequence | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Breakthrough Filmmaker | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Won | [23] |
Best Actor | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | ||
Best Adapted Screenplay | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Nominated | ||
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | [23] |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role | Hope Davis | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay, Adapted | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | ||
Best Film Editing | Robert Pulcini | Nominated | ||
Best Use of Previously Published or Recorded Music | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Best Screenplay, Adapted | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Won | [23] |
São Paulo International Film Festival | Best Feature Film | American Splendor | Nominated | [23] |
Satellite Awards | Best Actor — Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | [30] |
Best Actress — Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Hope Davis | Nominated | ||
Best Director | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | ||
Best Film — Musical or Comedy | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay — Adapted | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Nominated | ||
Seattle Film Critics Awards | Best Picture | American Splendor | Won | [23] |
Best Actress | Hope Davis | Won | ||
Best Screenplay, Adapted | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Won | ||
Best Actor | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | ||
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards | Best Picture | American Splendor | Nominated | [23] |
Sundance Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize Dramatic | American Splendor | Won | [31] |
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Best First Feature | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Won | [23] |
Village Voice Film Poll | Best Screenplay | Springer Berman and Pulcini | Won | [23] |
Best Film | American Splendor | Nominated | ||
Best Performance | Paul Giamatti | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Performance | Hope Davis | Nominated | ||
Writers Guild of America Award | Best Screenplay — Adapted | Pulcini and Springer Berman | Won | [32] |
References
- ^ "AMERICAN SPLENDOR". Optimum Releasing. British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ a b c "American Splendor (2003)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
- ^ a b c Mitchell, Elvis (August 15, 2003). "FILM REVIEW; A Comics Guy, Outside the Box". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ "American Splendor (2003)". Film Oblivion. September 12, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
- ^ Hutcherson entry Archived July 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Internet Movie Database. Accessed July 25, 2019.
- ^ a b Kaufman, Anthony. "Bob & Shari & Harvey & Joyce; “American Splendor” Goes from Small Panel to Big Screen," Archived August 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Indiewire (August 14, 2003).
- ^ a b McKittrick, Christopher (August 10, 2015). "Follow the Book's Lead: Berman and Pulcini on Ten Thousand Saints". Creative Screenwriting. Archived from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ Doug Allen entry, Internet Movie Database. Retrieved Nov. 23, 2022.
- ^ Dean, Michael. "Gary Leib: 1955 – 2021," The Comics Journal (Mar. 23, 2021).
- ^ Morrow, Fiona. "Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner: The party poopers," Archived February 18, 2019, at the Wayback Machine The Independent (13 January 2004).
- ^ a b "The Story Behind Harvey Pekar’s Infamous Last Letterman Interview," Archived July 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Phactual.com. Accessed July 21, 2019.
- ^ Head, Steve (August 28, 2003). "INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS OF AMERICAN SPLENDOR". IGN. Archived from the original on February 18, 2019.
- ^ "Various – American Splendor (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)," Archived April 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Discogs. Accessed June 14, 2019.
- ^ American Splendor at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ American Splendor at Metacritic
- ^ Ebert, Roger (August 22, 2003). "American Splendor". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ a b "FIPRESCI - Awards: 2003". Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew. "The albino, the mineshaft or the comic-book artist?" Archived August 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian (August 25, 2003).
- ^ Wolf, Jaime (September 24, 2003). "Harvey, Meet Woody: American Splendor vs. Annie Hall". Slate. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ Pekar, Harvey, and various illustrators. American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Ballantine Books, 2004) ISBN 0-345-47937-8
- ^ King, Susan. "Oh, the splendor of an unlikely hero," Archived August 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times (FEB. 5, 2004).
- ^ "AFI AWARDS 2003". American Film Institute.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "American Splendor (2003)," Archived February 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Internet Movie Database. Accessed Oct. 4, 2019.
- ^ "BSFC Winners 2000s," Archived December 9, 2018, at archive.today Boston Society of Film Critics website. Accessed July 25, 2019.
- ^ "ODD NEWS: 61st Annual Golde Globe Award nominees," Archived August 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine UPI (DEC. 18, 2003).
- ^ ""In America," "American Splendor," and "Raising Victor Vargas" Top Nominees for 2004 IFP Independent". indieWire. December 4, 2003. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "'American Splendor' top film by LA Critics," Archived July 25, 2019, at the Wayback Machine UPI (Jan. 8, 2004).
- ^ King, Susan. "Critics Group Names 'American Splendor' Top Film: The National Society of Film Critics also honors Bill Murray and Charlize Theron as best actors and Clint Eastwood as best director of 2003," Los Angeles Times (January 4, 2004).
- ^ Brick, Michael (January 4, 2004). "Minus Frills, Film Critics Pick Winners Of Awards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019.
- ^ Maldonado, Ryan. "Satellites pix picked: Noms include 'Whale Rider,' 'Rings,' 'Mighty Wind"," Archived August 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Variety (December 17, 2003).
- ^ 2003 Sundance Film Festival Archived July 25, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Sundance Institute Digital Archive. Accessed July 25, 2019.
- ^ Reuters. "Hollywood writers honor Coppola, 'Splendor'," Archived March 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine CNN.com (February 22, 2004).
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- American Splendor at IMDb
- American Splendor at AllMovie
- American Splendor at Box Office Mojo
- "New Line Cinema: American Splendor". Archived from the original on August 10, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - Paul Giamatti interview for American Splendor
- Overview of the film and the comics that inspired it by Peter Sanderson
- Review of American Splendor by J. Hoberman of The Village Voice (August 12, 2003)
- Scene by Scene with Josh & Dean, an American Splendor movie podcast co-hosted by two former American Splendor illustrators
Awards | ||
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Preceded by Personal Velocity | Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic 2003 | Succeeded by Primer |
- v
- t
- e
- Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's (1997)
- American Splendor (2003)
- Wanderlust (2006)
- The Nanny Diaries (2007)
- The Extra Man (2010)
- Cinema Verite (2011)
- Girl Most Likely (2012)
- Ten Thousand Saints (2015)
- Things Heard & Seen (2021)