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American Splendor
Paul Giamatti was robbed of a Best Actor nomination for his blistering performance in 2003's American Splendor a riveting and richly imaginative biopic centered around underground comic book artist Harvey Pekar.
Harvey Pekar worked as a file clerk in a Cleveland hospital but the real passion in his life was in collecting antique jazz records and reading and writing comic books, even though he has no talent for illustration and just draws stick figures. This all changes when Harvey has an accidental meeting with another underground comic book writer named Robert Crumb who agrees to illustrate Harvey's stories for him, leading to recognition in the comic book world, multiple appearances on Late Night with David Lettermanand an unconventional romance with a bookstore owner that leads to an unconventional marriage.
Co-directors and screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini also do Oscar-worthy work here, jumping off a cinematic cliff offering several things I have never seen in a movie before. The primary jump is the first biopic that features both the actors portraying the subjects as well as some of the real subjects, giving the film a bit of a documentary feel, but we're delivered from the sometimes dryness of a documentary with a lot of the scenes being mounted in the form of a comic book, including dialogue bubbles for the characters as they speak and one fantastic scene in a supermarket where Harvey is in line in a supermarket, about to lose his temper, when he is suddenly symbolically accosted by animated versions of himself advising him on how to handle the situation.
The directors and screenwriters offer one surprise after another their story presentation. Harvey's loneliness and social ineptitude is apparent throughout, evidenced in his inability to look people in the eye or smile. The relationship between Harvey and Joyce has one bizarre scene after another. Was totally thrown by the very first thing he tells her about himself when they first meet and I loved the fact that Harvey made no attempt to clean his apartment before Joyce's arrival. Found the choice of using the real footage for the initial Letterman appearances and then having Giamatti crush the final one was a bold choice that totally worked.
Production values are rich, with special shout outs to production design, sound, and editing. Paul Giamatti completely loses himself in this complex role and looking over the Oscar nominees for Best Actor that year, I've decided that his nomination was stolen by Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Carribean. Hope Davis is impressive as Joyce, validated when we meet the real Joyce, which I didn't see coming. And if you look closely, when Harvey and Joyce go to see a play about themselves, they are being played by Donal Logue and Molly Shannon. A provocative movie experience for those who are game.
Paul Giamatti was robbed of a Best Actor nomination for his blistering performance in 2003's American Splendor a riveting and richly imaginative biopic centered around underground comic book artist Harvey Pekar.
Harvey Pekar worked as a file clerk in a Cleveland hospital but the real passion in his life was in collecting antique jazz records and reading and writing comic books, even though he has no talent for illustration and just draws stick figures. This all changes when Harvey has an accidental meeting with another underground comic book writer named Robert Crumb who agrees to illustrate Harvey's stories for him, leading to recognition in the comic book world, multiple appearances on Late Night with David Lettermanand an unconventional romance with a bookstore owner that leads to an unconventional marriage.
Co-directors and screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini also do Oscar-worthy work here, jumping off a cinematic cliff offering several things I have never seen in a movie before. The primary jump is the first biopic that features both the actors portraying the subjects as well as some of the real subjects, giving the film a bit of a documentary feel, but we're delivered from the sometimes dryness of a documentary with a lot of the scenes being mounted in the form of a comic book, including dialogue bubbles for the characters as they speak and one fantastic scene in a supermarket where Harvey is in line in a supermarket, about to lose his temper, when he is suddenly symbolically accosted by animated versions of himself advising him on how to handle the situation.
The directors and screenwriters offer one surprise after another their story presentation. Harvey's loneliness and social ineptitude is apparent throughout, evidenced in his inability to look people in the eye or smile. The relationship between Harvey and Joyce has one bizarre scene after another. Was totally thrown by the very first thing he tells her about himself when they first meet and I loved the fact that Harvey made no attempt to clean his apartment before Joyce's arrival. Found the choice of using the real footage for the initial Letterman appearances and then having Giamatti crush the final one was a bold choice that totally worked.
Production values are rich, with special shout outs to production design, sound, and editing. Paul Giamatti completely loses himself in this complex role and looking over the Oscar nominees for Best Actor that year, I've decided that his nomination was stolen by Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Carribean. Hope Davis is impressive as Joyce, validated when we meet the real Joyce, which I didn't see coming. And if you look closely, when Harvey and Joyce go to see a play about themselves, they are being played by Donal Logue and Molly Shannon. A provocative movie experience for those who are game.