American Splendor is a biographical account of little known comic writer Harvey Pekar and his life to date. The film opens with a trick or treat scene, where Harvey stands in line waiting for the sweets. The other kids are wearing comic book hero outfits, and each one is courteously given their share of the treat. The lady reaches the end of the line, where Harvey stands in his everyday clothes, and is asked what super hero he is. Frustrated with the stupidity of it all, he exclaims that he’s just a child that lives on the street and brashly disappears down the road.

Harvey has lived a pretty crap life to date. He’s been shunned and treated like crap, he isn’t having any fun, he can barely live on the Government job he has, he isn’t happy and he hates the job he has anyway. To say he’s feeling maladjusted would be an understatement.

Working as file clerk at a hospital is not a lot of fun. His “friends” at work consist of an “almost autistic” geek, a paranoid delusional, and other equally uncanny personalities. Harvey himself isn’t exactly in the best state of mind, and lives with a permanent scowl of absolute misery and gloom on his face, ever since he was a child.

He’s losing his second wife, who he supported, to get an education. She’s now got a PhD and feels that living the “plebeian” lifestyle that Harvey provides would kill her. Harvey, sadly, is not in a position to negotiate as his throat is sore and he’s losing his voice. This is one of the other reason that his wife is leaving him. Of course, it’s just another excuse for a moment of snobbery on her part. Harvey needs to quit shouting for a few months, otherwise he will lose his voice. The joy never ends.

Harvey meets Robert Crumb of Fritz the Cat fame, where Harvey expresses an interest in Crumb’s work. Harvey’s life is falling apart, and while Crumb is doing tours and roadshows thanks to the success of his underground cult comics, Harvey is trying to deal with everyday life as it comes. Dejected with what he has to put up with, Harvey decides to write a comic himself.

The comics that Harvey writes are neither heroic nor optimistic, but simply realistic. They take away the fantasy of what comic book hero’s provide and injects a serious amount of reality of what life is like for the average American who doesn’t live the life of luxury and spoils. It’s a turning point for Harvey as it allows him a way to vent his anger with the world and his own life. Crumb looks at the rather crude drawings that Harvey has scripted and offers to illustrate the story line. Harvey agrees and is elated, and partnership begins. Of course, Harvey doesn’t make any money from this and continues to live his life as a file clerk at the hospital.

American Splendor is born, and the comics are a cult hit, selling out. Harvey has become a phenomenon of sorts, and one day meets an old school friend in the bakery. They exchange words about reading books, including one Harvey is currently reading. Harvey finishes the book and likes the ending, it’s true and honest and what he would have wanted, and he remembers Lisa (the friend he met) and how she commented about how rare it was for honesty these days, while also recognising his talent as a comic writer.

The second change in Harvey’s life comes in the form of Joyce, who runs a comic book store with her partner. A fan of American Splendor, her boyfriend failed to keep her a copy and so she writes to Harvey. The writing between them continues, and moves on to telephone conversations, at which point Harvey invites Joyce from Delaware to Cleveland. They get married within a week and life begins to change for Harvey.

American Splendor begins rather slow, and it takes a long to build to something verging on entertaining. It is a realistic, rather than depressive, biopic of a very unhappy man. Harvey (played by Paul Giamatti) is excellent as the real Harvey Pekar, portraying the same nihilistic and downward approach to life.

The film is different, if not unique, in many ways. We sometimes find the story told in comic book form, or for the on screen events to be morphed into a comic book and vice versa. The film is not only narrated by the real Harvey Pekar, but also stars the real Harvey Pekar in some scenes which have been spliced in with the film footage. You may watch 10 minutes of the film, and then be treated to the real Harvey Pekar and his opinion on what happened around a particular event after all these years. I found those moments to be intrusive and disruptive at first, but you gradually get a feel for it, and it isn’t so bad as the film continues.

The manner in which the back stage scenes are integrated into the film is interesting. We meet the real Tony, Harvey and Joyce alongside the actors playing Harvey and Toby. It’s a bit abstract, and it is different, and whether it has any real relevance to the film is up to the viewer to decide, but it is an original approach to creating a biopic.

The real Harvey comes across as more likable than his on screen counterpart, perhaps age and time have something to do with it, or may be he has less to rage against. His wife, like in the film, is reserved but intelligent and explains her opinion on how she feels portrayed in the comics. Harvey’s source for his comics are real life, and his every day existence as the average Joe trying to make ends meat.

American Splendor itself is difficult to like immediately, and it is something that does grow on you. The pace of the film, uncharacteristically quickens with Harvey dealing the bastard megalomaniac (as his wife describes) David Letterman and others using Harvey as the butt of their jokes, ending in a bitter confrontation. Harvey has every right to be angry, and if you hated Letterman before, you would hate him more after watching this. The lack of respect and courtesy he provides to Harvey is not just an insult to Harvey, but an insult to every person that lives a similar life, as the truth is not far removed.

Harvey also has to deal with his testicular cancer, the integration of someone else’s child into their family due to his vasectomy, dealing with his cult popularity and living every day as he did as a file clerk. Even after all those years as a comic book writer, Harvey continued his life as a file clerk.

The opening of American Splendor warns you that if you’re looking for a happy film, this won’t be the one for you. Although that comment is true, it is also refreshing. It could be argued that films should provide escapist fantasy, and provide some degree of hope, and that American Splendor provides none of this. The truth is, American Splendor provides a real portrayal of a slice of life. Life is what you make of it, and it’s not always happy and full of joy and success.

There are few of those moments in American Splendor, in fact I’d be hard pressed to think of one. But it is a biopic of his life, and if he decides that is how he sees his life, then we can’t really change that. His wife argues that Harvey often paints over the happiness, that he only sees the negativity of life – Harvey admits this. This is nothing short of Harvey’s honesty, and his life and soul being put on to celluloid is a remarkable testament to his endurance. Credit too, to his wife and daughter who also managed to live through the suffering that Harvey went through, and pulled through.

As Harvey points out, although it may sound like happy ending, it isn’t. He make some pocket change out of the film, and hopefully it will be enough to make life that little bit easier. But the reality is, life is still bad and living it is tough, and will continue to be so.

How well this translates into entertainment is up to the viewer. I am aware of several friends hating this, call it one of the most dull films they’ve ever seen. Other regard it as a refreshingly original biopic and kick in the nuts to candy films. For me it’s somewhere in between. As a biopic, we have to expect self-indulgence, and we do get to see this. We also get to see his fighting spirit, with real life footage of his disagreement with Letterman, and the world at large. There are better made films, better presented and so on, but there’s few that are this raw, and this honest and self-deprecating. It will turn off a lot of people for that, but I found it mostly enjoyable.

There are things that could have been better done, and perhaps the pace could have been picked up much earlier in the film. The presentation is acceptable and fits in with the rather simple and minimalist approach, focusing on the characters rather than the environment that exists around them. I found the performances to be really enjoyable, but didn’t care too much for the throw away characters or portrayals of people that have some significance to the life of Harvey and his wife (like the father of the daughter they adopt).

However, as things stand, it’s not a bad biopic, and there have been a lot worse and a lot more self indulgent and self-praising, for that the writers and Harvey should be commended. It doesn’t grate when we see Harvey feel a moment of triumph or wave a card of success sometimes. Sadly, those moments are short lived, and he marches on with the life and attitude that have provided him with cult status amongst the underground comic world.

Verdict: Mostly enjoyable biopic of a misery entrenched comic writer.