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#1
06-14-2005, 05:31 AM
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American Splendor Movie Review
American Splendor follows the life of underground comic book creator, Harvey Pekar, a less than average everyday man who holds a day job at a Cleveland hospital. In his comic, named American Splendor, he is able to express his interests, his joys, and his frustrations and failures through his every day life rather than write about unrealistic super heros a la Superman or the Green Hornet. Afterall Harvey says, "Ordinary life is pretty comlex stuff."
Pual Giamatti plays Harvey beatifully with his unusual quirks and mannerisms. This marks the beginning of three fantastic roles for Giamatti (Sideways and Cinderalla Man) and you can probably pinpoint his revitalized career to this movie. Giamatti's excellent portrayel can probably be attributed to the fact that the actual Harvey Peckar helped with this film by appearing in the movie through interviews and such. His life's story, while full of mundane normality, oozes with witty conversations and a humorous outlook, which makes his comics, and this movie, interesting. I'll be honest, I tried really hard to really like this movie, and I certainly did, but I was expecting something truely amazing given the reviews and high praise its recieved. While funny, I didn't find it exceptionally funny; while clever and witty, I didn't find it exceptionally so. While others called it excellent, I am calling it "merely" good. This may sound like a negative review, but it really isn't. Actually American Splendor was very difficult to review because it is so different. However, I do recommend seeing it though. SCORE: 7.5/10 
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#3
06-14-2005, 06:20 AM
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Re: American Splendor Movie Review
Paul was great, and I liked it a lot. A huge part of the fun in the movie comes out of his acting, the strange but not showy choices he makes, and how the movie takes it all for granted.
And out of the incredible difference it is to have a story about a normal human being instead of the basically hyped up cartoon characters that even the best movies give us in comparison. Even in dramatic situations, there's a sort of genius of normalcy in the guy and his life. It's fun too how the movie drifts from comic book to the film's story to intercuts with the actual real-life Harvey Pekar. Also, the DVD extras are very good in this one, really bringing out more of Harvey's personality and background. Harvey at the Cannes Film Festival -- the expression on his face -- there's some very funny stuff there. I also highly recommend reading Roger Ebert's review of the movie, and his talking about Harvey and whatever the girl's name was. I'll confess that this movie grows on you, too, which is another way of saying I didn't like it as much the first time as I thought I might, but strangely, I found myself thinking about it a lot and felt really compelled to watch it again. When I did, I was surprised to see how much more I really enjoyed it this time. And it's not like I disliked it the first time, not at all. It's pretty different stuff, not like a run of the mill movie, and it took me a while to adapt, too. Kind of subversively ordinary. We aren't supposed to be that ordinary, are we?
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#7
06-14-2005, 06:25 PM
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Re: American Splendor Movie Review
[ QUOTE ]
I have only seen it once, but I loved it. But afterwards I could not pinpoint why I loved it. [/ QUOTE ] I loved it too. Probably because it is so different than a typical Hollywood movie. It is actually somewhat relatable. Unlike the typical Ben Affleck or Brad Pitt movie which are so fantastically unrealistic.
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