American Splendor (film)

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.

American Splendor
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shari Springer Berman Robert Pulcini
Written by	Shari Springer Berman Robert Pulcini
Based on	American Splendor by Harvey Pekar Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar Joyce Brabner
Produced by	Ted Hope Christine Kunewa Walker Julia King Declan Baldwin
Starring	Paul Giamatti Hope Davis Judah Friedlander
Cinematography	Terry Stacey
Edited by	Robert Pulcini
Music by	Mark Suozzo
Production companies	HBO Films Good Machine
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release dates	January 20, 2003 (2003-01-20) (Sundance) August 15, 2003 (2003-08-15) (United States)
Running time	101 minutes^[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million^[2]
Box office	$8.7 million^[2]

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, Harvey Pekar refuses to dress up as a superhero while trick-or-treating. A few years later, we see Harvey walking the Cleveland streets, then the real Harvey Pekar appears in a documentary-style setup. In 1975, a scratchy-voiced Harvey visits a throat doctor and exhibits hypochondria. Harvey's wife derides their "plebeian" lifestyle and leaves him, while he has no voice to argue. A few months later, Harvey is at his file clerk job at a VA hospital when Mr. Boats offers advice from an Elinor Wylie poem.

In a documentary scene, the real Harvey discusses his years as a part-time used-record collector/salesman. Flashing back to 1962, Harvey meets shy greeting card illustrator Robert Crumb while browsing records at a yard sale, and the two bond over jazz and comic books. Returning to 1975, the now-popular Crumb is in Cleveland for a visit. The newly single and frustrated Harvey has a sobering moment in the VA hospital's "deceased" files section, leading him to try drawing his own stories, but his lack of talent stops him. An incident at the supermarket with his animated subconscious inspires him to stay up all night writing. At a diner with Crumb, Harvey shows Crumb scripts he's been working on for a new comic, while Crumb offers to illustrate them.

Harvey publishes eight issues of American Splendor to critical acclaim but little financial gain and remains a file clerk. He runs into Alice Quinn, a woman he briefly knew in college, and they catch up and discuss Theodore Dreiser's novel Jennie Gerhardt. He leaves their encounter feeling even more alone.

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 corresponds with Harvey and they discover they are kindred spirits, so she travels to Cleveland to meet him in person. Following a dinner date, she is overcome with a bout of nausea and vomiting at his apartment. A concerned Harvey offers her chamomile tea, and Joyce suggests they skip courtship and get married.

A week later, Harvey sees his VA colleague Toby Radloff sitting in his car eating. Toby is on his way to Toledo to see the new movie Revenge of the Nerds, while Harvey is on his way to Delaware to marry Joyce and help her move to Cleveland. Sitting alongside the real Harvey, the real Joyce Brabner talks about what it was like to become a character in Harvey's stories.

Now married, Harvey and Joyce attend a screening of Revenge of the Nerds with Toby, which Harvey finds insipid. Back at their apartment, Joyce gripes about Harvey's possessions, but their spat is interrupted by a message from a theater producer who wants to make American Splendor into a play. After the play's Los Angeles debut, Harvey's growing success is complicated by Joyce's emotional struggles and desire for children, compounded when a producer calls to offer Harvey a guest spot on Late Night with David Letterman. Harvey is a hit on the show and comes back for multiple appearances, while Toby becomes an MTV star.

Back in Cleveland, someone recognizes Harvey from Late Night, but their reasons anger him. Meanwhile, Joyce seeks fulfillment as a creator and activist and travels to a peace conference without Harvey's permission. One night, Harvey discovers a lump on his groin.

With Joyce still away, Harvey returns to Late Night wearing an "On Strike Against NBC" shirt, leading to chaos. Joyce returns and discovers Harvey's lump and he is soon diagnosed with lymphoma. She suggests he make a comic book about it, but he just wants to die, so she enlists Fred, an artist, to illustrate the experience. Fred brings his daughter Danielle to their first brainstorming session, and Joyce is smitten with her. Harvey reluctantly agrees to participate in the comic and asks Fred to keep bringing Danielle.

Harvey's treatment is difficult. One night, he wonders if he is real or a comic book character, and whether the story will end or continue if he dies. Harvey wanders through a dreamscape, musing about other Harvey Pekars he finds in the telephone book. One year later, Harvey and Joyce sign the completed Our Cancer Year, and he is declared cancer-free. They adopt Danielle, and Harvey adjusts to being a parent. The real Harvey retires from the VA hospital and the staff hold a retirement party, during which 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]

1. "Paniots Nine" — Joe Maneri
2. "Blue Devil Jump" — Jay McShann
3. "Chasin' Rainbows" — R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
4. "On the Sunny Side of the Street" — Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio
5. "Oh, Lady Be Good!" — Dizzy Gillespie
6. "Ain't That Peculiar" — Marvin Gaye
7. "Looking Suite: The Shortest Weekend / After Alice (So Sweet, So Sad)" — Mark Suozzo/Global Stage Orchestra
8. "Stardust" — Dizzy Gillespie
9. "Hula Medley" — R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
10. "T'aint Nobody's Bizness If I Do" — Jay McShann
11. "My Favorite Things" — John Coltrane
12. "Time Passes Strangely: Cancer Treatment / Retirement Party" — Mark Suozzo
13. "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

1. . Optimum Releasing. British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
2. "American Splendor (2003)". The Numbers. from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
3. Mitchell, Elvis (August 15, 2003). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
4. "American Splendor (2003)". Film Oblivion. September 12, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
5. Hutcherson entry July 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Internet Movie Database. Accessed July 25, 2019.
6. Kaufman, Anthony. "Bob & Shari & Harvey & Joyce; “American Splendor” Goes from Small Panel to Big Screen," August 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Indiewire (August 14, 2003).
7. McKittrick, Christopher (August 10, 2015). "Follow the Book's Lead: Berman and Pulcini on Ten Thousand Saints". Creative Screenwriting. from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
8. Doug Allen entry, Internet Movie Database. Retrieved Nov. 23, 2022.
9. Dean, Michael. "Gary Leib: 1955 – 2021," The Comics Journal (Mar. 23, 2021).
10. Morrow, Fiona. "Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner: The party poopers," February 18, 2019, at the Wayback Machine The Independent (13 January 2004).
11. "The Story Behind Harvey Pekar’s Infamous Last Letterman Interview," July 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Phactual.com. Accessed July 21, 2019.
12. Head, Steve (August 28, 2003). . IGN. Archived from the original on February 18, 2019.
13. "Various – American Splendor (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)," April 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Discogs. Accessed June 14, 2019.
14. American Splendor at Rotten Tomatoes
15. American Splendor at Metacritic  
16. Ebert, Roger (August 22, 2003). "American Splendor". RogerEbert.com. from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
17. "FIPRESCI - Awards: 2003". from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
18. Pulver, Andrew. "The albino, the mineshaft or the comic-book artist?" August 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian (August 25, 2003).
19. Wolf, Jaime (September 24, 2003). "Harvey, Meet Woody: American Splendor vs. Annie Hall". Slate. from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
20. Pekar, Harvey, and various illustrators. American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Ballantine Books, 2004) ISBN 0-345-47937-8
21. King, Susan. "Oh, the splendor of an unlikely hero," August 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times (FEB. 5, 2004).
22. "AFI AWARDS 2003". American Film Institute.
23. "American Splendor (2003)," February 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Internet Movie Database. Accessed Oct. 4, 2019.
24. "BSFC Winners 2000s," Archived December 9, 2018, at archive.today Boston Society of Film Critics website. Accessed July 25, 2019.
25. "ODD NEWS: 61st Annual Golde Globe Award nominees," August 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine UPI (DEC. 18, 2003).
26. ""In America," "American Splendor," and "Raising Victor Vargas" Top Nominees for 2004 IFP Independent". indieWire. December 4, 2003. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
27. "'American Splendor' top film by LA Critics," July 25, 2019, at the Wayback Machine UPI (Jan. 8, 2004).
28. 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," October 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times (January 4, 2004).
29. Brick, Michael (January 4, 2004). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019.
30. Maldonado, Ryan. "Satellites pix picked: Noms include 'Whale Rider,' 'Rings,' 'Mighty Wind"," August 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Variety (December 17, 2003).
31. 2003 Sundance Film Festival July 25, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Sundance Institute Digital Archive. Accessed July 25, 2019.
32. Reuters. "Hollywood writers honor Coppola, 'Splendor'," March 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine CNN.com (February 22, 2004).

External links

 

Wikiquote has quotations related to American Splendor (film).

• American Splendor at IMDb  
• American Splendor at AllMovie  
• American Splendor at Box Office Mojo  
• . Archived from the original on August 10, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• 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
Preceded by Personal Velocity	Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic 2003	Succeeded by Primer