Wow. I posted! How about that. Well. If I have more time later on this week, I'll start to bring you Matrix Revolutions, The Singing Detective, School of Rock and Die Mommie Die. How does that sound to all of you? And who knows what all I'll see next. Check back often.
American Splendor
Review by Jon Waterman
****
The film tells the story of Harvey Pekar. He’s a average Joe that works a boring average day job every day to come back home to his modest, less than average home. Inspired by his friends in the comic book business, such as Robert Crumb, he decides to write a picture book of his own. He writes about his life and about the little things that usually go on unnoticed. The concept becomes an underground hit and soon Harvey is becoming more famous. What will happen to his average life now?
Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini take the bio pic to another level. First to be noticed is the usage of the comic book panels. “American Splendor” easily accomplishes the integration of the formats with such grace that “The Hulk” is left dumbfounded. The opening sequence places live action inside the panels and then pans over to a drawn Harvey giving background information and then back to live action and so on. What makes this style work is the fluidity of it all. Comic books are meant to be read in a certain order. “The Hulk” just threw an assault of panels on the screen at one time, all of them busy and all trying to be equally important. Here, the use of the technique is minimal, purposeful and structured.
Another way the bio pic genre is modified is by using the subject matter so prominently. Most of the time, if people involved are alive, they’re thrown in as cameo roles somewhere, later to be revealed in the DVD commentary. What this film does is interlace the narrative with footage of the interview sessions. We get a feel of what Harvey’s personality is truly like and can more accurately (or perhaps more harshly) judge Paul Giamatti’s rendition of him. This also allows blurring to occur. Harvey appeared on Letterman several times in his life. Instead of hiring a Letterman double to play off of Paul, they use our knowledge of what Harvey looks like and play the clip of the actual incident. It makes it much more real and much more believable and much more interesting to watch.
All of this helps the movie stand out and truly be better than most out there. In fact, if it weren’t for the styles and the mixtures of real and pretend, the film wouldn’t be half as effective. This is true, for one, because it would seem some of the characterization is off. Not as much with Harvey, but more in Toby, a self-proclaimed nerdy coworker. Judah Friedlander, who plays Toby, is a comedian and it seemed as if he was putting too much of the comic touch onto this person. Toby appeared to be too cartoony. And then the real Toby was shown and it all made sense.
Even if the film was put together more conventionally, it would still be worthwhile. The acting is incredible. Everyone stays true to the spirit of the character and blasts the screen with emotion. The script (by the directors) is gripping and very funny at the same time. The film is filled with great Jazz music that adds to the mood of the picture and takes you deeper into Harvey’s personality and feelings. The only real complaint I have is with the overabundance of extreme rack focus shots. There’s only so many times I can see incredibly blurry blobs of light and shadow form some type of sharp image.
It is true. Harvey is an everyman-like hero. His life is run of the mill for the most part. However, the story of how he translates this into art is far from boring. The directors, like Harvey, know that if conventions are broken, then ears will perk up. Let them perk. You won’t be sorry.
American Splendor
Review by Jon Waterman
****
The film tells the story of Harvey Pekar. He’s a average Joe that works a boring average day job every day to come back home to his modest, less than average home. Inspired by his friends in the comic book business, such as Robert Crumb, he decides to write a picture book of his own. He writes about his life and about the little things that usually go on unnoticed. The concept becomes an underground hit and soon Harvey is becoming more famous. What will happen to his average life now?
Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini take the bio pic to another level. First to be noticed is the usage of the comic book panels. “American Splendor” easily accomplishes the integration of the formats with such grace that “The Hulk” is left dumbfounded. The opening sequence places live action inside the panels and then pans over to a drawn Harvey giving background information and then back to live action and so on. What makes this style work is the fluidity of it all. Comic books are meant to be read in a certain order. “The Hulk” just threw an assault of panels on the screen at one time, all of them busy and all trying to be equally important. Here, the use of the technique is minimal, purposeful and structured.
Another way the bio pic genre is modified is by using the subject matter so prominently. Most of the time, if people involved are alive, they’re thrown in as cameo roles somewhere, later to be revealed in the DVD commentary. What this film does is interlace the narrative with footage of the interview sessions. We get a feel of what Harvey’s personality is truly like and can more accurately (or perhaps more harshly) judge Paul Giamatti’s rendition of him. This also allows blurring to occur. Harvey appeared on Letterman several times in his life. Instead of hiring a Letterman double to play off of Paul, they use our knowledge of what Harvey looks like and play the clip of the actual incident. It makes it much more real and much more believable and much more interesting to watch.
All of this helps the movie stand out and truly be better than most out there. In fact, if it weren’t for the styles and the mixtures of real and pretend, the film wouldn’t be half as effective. This is true, for one, because it would seem some of the characterization is off. Not as much with Harvey, but more in Toby, a self-proclaimed nerdy coworker. Judah Friedlander, who plays Toby, is a comedian and it seemed as if he was putting too much of the comic touch onto this person. Toby appeared to be too cartoony. And then the real Toby was shown and it all made sense.
Even if the film was put together more conventionally, it would still be worthwhile. The acting is incredible. Everyone stays true to the spirit of the character and blasts the screen with emotion. The script (by the directors) is gripping and very funny at the same time. The film is filled with great Jazz music that adds to the mood of the picture and takes you deeper into Harvey’s personality and feelings. The only real complaint I have is with the overabundance of extreme rack focus shots. There’s only so many times I can see incredibly blurry blobs of light and shadow form some type of sharp image.
It is true. Harvey is an everyman-like hero. His life is run of the mill for the most part. However, the story of how he translates this into art is far from boring. The directors, like Harvey, know that if conventions are broken, then ears will perk up. Let them perk. You won’t be sorry.
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