Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) has always been an oddball guy bordering on being a misanthrope. He's a file clerk at a VA hospital in Cleveland and collects jazz albums. In 1962, he befriends outsider comics artist Bob Crumb at a garage sale. In 1975 after his wife leaves him, he starts writing stories for Crumb to illustrate. He becomes famous to his fans and to Joyce Brabner (Hope Davis). She is almost as awkward as him and they start a relationship.Paul Giamatti is truly amazing and Harvey is such a great character for him. I simply love the mixing of the real characters with the comics and the actors. This style is brilliant and fits the subject matter. It becomes an electric blend of reality and surrealism.

There was a time when Hollywood made biopics about people of accomplishment, films commending excellence, whether Marie Curie or Gandhi or Abraham Lincoln, good films modeling behavior worthy of emulation; I suppose this film about a curmudgeonly, unkempt sad-sack is perfect for the age of A Divided Nation; Harney Pekar is famous for being himself, living in his own private bubble, as if that were in itself worthy of public deification. That said, this is a brilliantly made film, with remarkable performances from Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis, and the sincerity of the filmmakers cannot be doubted. It is an amazing blend of cartoon, both human and drawn, combined with actual vintage television footage, the real Pekar frequently juxtaposed against both his cartoon self and Giamattis remarkable recreation. After a few hours, however, I had to question if I really found this guy worthy of anything other than a clever ability to market his failings; its remarkably made, but do I want this dude in my living room for two hours?

I absolutely loved this film. I've always wanted to watch it, but never got round to it. Now I have, nine years later. It started off slow, I admit, after the first twenty minutes I paused it and went to sleep. After that, I started it up again and I thought it was so brilliant. The way it was shot was smart and witty and the sound track completely suited the entire concept of American Splendor.What I enjoyed most about this was by far the protagonist. He is nothing special, just the average American that tends to see more of the bad than good side of life. I am a sucker for movies that are based on real people, and combining the actors with the real life versions of themselves made me constantly dream up scenarios in my head of these people and their lives. It's truly a unique and depressing story that has its moments of happiness. It makes you feel a need for change, sympathize with those less fortunate and think about the little things in life.

This movie has to rate as one of the poorer biopics. First, this is not one of Paul Giamatti's better performances. Maybe that has something to do with the material. Second, the movie is about the wrong guy. It should have been about Robert Crumb, the real driving force who created and marketed a new genre of comic book. Harvey Pekar was a fellow with issues; the movie suggests that he represented the "everyman," the "nobody," and that he caught the essence of the human condition by noting down the conversations of those around him. However, it was Mr. Crumb who brought Mr. Pekar's jottings life and without Mr. Crumb, Mr. Pekar's jottings would have remained what they were: doodling. The movie also provides an uncomplimentary portrayal of the operations in the Veterans Administration, portraying the employees as quirky, marginal bureaucrats who were completely alienated from their work and couldn't care less about the veterans. All in all, this was not a good movie.