An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 31 wins & 50 nominations total
- Throat Doctor
- (as Larry John Myers)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaNBC would not lease out the actual Late Show with David Letterman (1993) footage where Harvey Pekar finally lashed out at David Letterman, so the scene had to be recreated with actors.
- GoofsThe scene where Harvey gets stuck behind the old Jewish woman leaves out a detail that would help it make sense.
In the movie, she says that the glasses are 6 for $2, but she couldn't carry 12 last time,, so they should charge her only $1.50 for the additional 6. There is no explanation as to why she should be charged less.
In the story from the original comic, she says that the glasses are 6 for $2 or 12 for $3.50, but she couldn't get all 12 last time, so they should charge her only $1.50 for the 6 she is buying now.
- Quotes
Real Harvey: I felt more alone that week than any. Sometimes I'd feel a body lying next to me like an amputee feels a phantom limb. All I did was think about Jennie Gerhardt and Alice Quinn and all the decades of people I had known. The more I thought, the more I felt like crying. Life seemed so sweet and so sad, and so hard to let go of in the end. But hey, man, every day is a brand new deal, right? Just keep on working and something's bound to turn up.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits are displayed in the style of Harvey Pekar styled comic book panels.
"American Splendor" is a comic/drama biography about the life of Harvey Pekar(Played by Paul Giamatti) in which the film plays like a comic book showing scenes that are real and fiction. Even the real Harvey makes appearances quite often in the film to talk about his life, his wife(Joyce) and everything that sort of made him the person who he is today.
Harvey Pekar can be described as one of those characters who don't seem to give a damn about the world. The reason that I root for this character is that he's the type person that lives in his own world, from not giving a crap about the incidents in the world, to not having a formal college education, to working at a dead end job where in the future, people are still laughing at him. And yet, I don't blame him. I am reminded of two other movies that had losers, but made an impact on male society: "The Big Lebowski" and "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" in which both male characters didn't have to worry about anything or go out on dates, or even pleasing society(shame on you, people).
All in All, American Splendor is a great movie. Though the film's target audience are for guys, I still encourage people to see this movie. The film also stars, Hope Davis portraying Harvey's wife, Joyce.
One of the Best Films!
- departed07
- Jan 29, 2005
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,010,990
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $159,705
- Aug 17, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $7,986,084
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1