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American Splendor
List Price: $14.98Our Price: $8.99 You Save: $5.99 (40%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780783123875
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0783123876
Item Dimensions: 100
Label: HBO Video
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 SurroundEnglish (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: HBO Video
MPN: 92031
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: HBO Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: February 03, 2004
Running Time: 101 minutes
Studio: HBO Video
Theatrical Release Date: September 12, 2003
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Editorial Review:
One of the most acclaimed films of 2003, American Splendor is also one of the most audaciously creative biographical movies ever made. Blending fact, fiction, and personal perspective from the comic books that inspired it, this marvelous portrait of Harvey Pekar--scowling curmudgeon, brow-beaten everyman, insightful chronicler of his own life, and frustrated file clerk at a Cleveland V.A. hospital--is an inspired amalgam of the media (comic books, TV, and film) that lifted Pekar from obscurity to the status of a pop-cultural icon. As played by Paul Giamatti in a master-stroke of casting, we see Pekar and his understanding wife (played by Hope Davis) as underdogs in a world full of obstacles, yet also infused with subtle hope and (gasp!) heartwarming perseverance. We also see the real Pekar, and this multifaceted commingling of "reel" and "real" turns American Splendor into a uniquely cinematic celebration of Pekar's life and, by extension, the tenacity of an unlikely American hero. --Jeff Shannon
American Splendor is the story of a little-known working-class everyman and first-class curmudgeon harvey Pekar. pekar finds love fmaily and a creative voice through the underground comic books he creates but still can't manage to find the quicker supermarket checkout line. ordinary life is pretty complex stuff. Pekar played by Paul Giamatti is a frustrated file clerk at a V.A. hospital but also a comic book fan who brefirends the young illustrator Robert Crumb and is soon inspired to create comic books based on his own life entitled 'American Splendor.' Along the bumpy journey he meets marries and falls for Joyce an admiring comic book seller played by Hope Davis. also appearing in the movie are the real Harvey and Joyce comic book renderings of the couple and cameos by some of Harvey's closest friends. In this truly original ultimately heartwarming film you will find yourself deeply immersed in a world of American Splendor.Running Time: 101 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 026359203121 Manufacturer No: 92031
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Excellent film
If you're unsure about buying this, it's worth checking out just to see the characters. The crazy thing is that they're essentially real people. Go to wikipedia and look up Harvey Pekar, Robert Crumb, Toby Radloff, and Joyce Brabner. It's a pleasant surprise that they exist. See the movie. (It was in great condition when I got it, too.)
Rating: - Quality, Six stars not Five!
In my opinion this was one of the best films out there. Beautifully shot, written, and acted. I love this movie so much that I don't eve care that people didn't get it...it's their loss, and I hope that if you have not seen it, check it out and see for yourself.
Rating:  - A nerd film for elitist a-holes.
There they stand in safe New York studio apartments in their skinny, disproportionately crafted outfits, looking smug and very middle-European as they hold expensive champagne with white gloves and giggle at the cute absurdity found in American Splendor. This, my friends, is a depiction of the psychotic element of film critics who made of the 2.3% of the viewing world who actually enjoyed this pile of wrathful bile.
American Splendor is the type of pathetic film that makes one wonder ... Read More
Rating: - I'm Impressed
I left the USA in 1999, so I have no clue about any of the material that preceded this film. It was some underground comic books and I don't know what else. Coming into it with no clue about all this background, I was quite impressed. The movie does pull you into the world of Harvey Pekar, which apparently blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction to give us ordinary life. It's also an excellent trip through the 60s, 70s and 80s, and a great way to spend a couple of hours, and you'll think ... Read More
Rating: - original, funny, banal, pathetic, and uplifting
I was given a copy of Pekar's first anthology in 1985, and I read it so many times I practically memorized it. The great thing was that it had down to earth stories about normal people in a nowhere city, but they came through with a pathos and sense of striving that were throbbing with life. Not much happens, but they leave an imprint, if you like good dense fiction. Pekar is his milieu, however egomanaical, maladjusted, and sad he seems. The stories range from reasoning about his non-existent ... Read More
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