American Splendor
Release Date:
August 15, 2003
Limited release
This unique film is based on a long-running comic by everyman Harvey Pekar. Titled American Splendor, the stories detailed Pekar's true life "adventures" as office drone and part-time struggling writer. As the books grew in popularity, Pekar became a regular guest on David Letterman's shows, and gained a certain level of celebrity because of these appearances.
Now his travails are being brought to the big screen in a combination biopic and documentary that is both written and directed by Shari Berman and Bob Pulcini. The film stars noted character actor Paul Giamatti as Pekar himself, and he's a terrific choice as the resemblance between the two men is uncanny. Hope Davis, coming off a critically acclaimed performance in last year's About Schmidt, co-stars as Pekar's wife. The writer himself will appear in the documentary portions of the film.
American Splendor was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and is one of the early front-runners for a lot of year-end awards recognition. The distributor isn't known for its pull (John Cameron Mitchell was similarly critically acclaimed for his performance in Fine Line Features' Hedwig and the Angry Inch) so smaller critics association prizes may be American Splendor's destiny. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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