American Splendor
2003
****
Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, Judah Friedlander, Earl Billings, James Urbaniak, Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, Toby Radloff
Paul Giamatti is perfectly cast as Harvey Pekar, a grouchy and lonely file clerk from Cleveland, who turns his mundane life into a popular underground comic book and becomes somewhat of a celebrity in the process. This unusual but thoroughly enjoyable film mixes dramatisation of Pekar's life with animation based on his comics, and wry commentary from the actual people portrayed on screen. Adapted from American Splendor (series of comic books) and Our Cancer Year (graphic novel).
