American Splendor
- Original title
- American Splendor
- Year
- 2003
- Running time
- 100 min.
- Country
- United States
- Director
- Screenwriter
- Cast
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- Paul Giamatti
- Hope Davis
- Harvey Pekar
- Shari Springer Berman
- Earl Billings
- James Urbaniak
- Judah Friedlander
- Robert Pulcini
- Toby Radloff
- Joyce Brabner
- Donal Logue
- Molly Shannon
- See all credits
- Music
- Cinematography
- Producer
- Genre
- Drama | Based on a Comic. Independent Film (US)
- Synopsis
- Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his "American Splendor" a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey's cult celebrity stature.
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NEWAbout similar movies and series:Similar Movies to American SplendorSimilarity over 75%Similarity between 60% and 75%Similarity between 40% and 60%Similarity below 40%
- Rankings Position
- Awards
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2003: Nominated for Oscar: Best Adapted Screenplay2003: Nominated for Golden Globe: Best Supporting Actress (Hope Davis)2003: Sundance: Best Movie2003: Cannes: FIPRESCI Award (International Critics)2003: American Film Institute (AFI): Top 10 - Movies of the Year2003: Independent Spirit Awards: 5 Nominations including Best Film and Best Director
- Critics' reviews
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"Superbly conceived anti-biopic"
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"I can't say that this feature about the life and art of Harvey Pekar, made me want to run out and buy his comic books, but it does offer a highly interesting and original introduction to them"
- Show 2 more reviews
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- Ranking Lists Position
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- 51 My Top 10 Movies from 2003 (44)
- 80 My Favorite Comic Adaptations (54)
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