DVD Review - American Splendor dir. Shari Springer Bergman and Robert Pulcini

In the opening scene of American Splendor, we see the major comic superheroes lined up on Hallowe'en. The Green Lantern, Spiderman, Superman. At the end of the line is a normal kid, with no costume. The candy distributor asks "Who are you supposed to be?". The kid answers simply "I'm Harvey Pekar."

At a time when heroes dominate the silver screen, American Splendor brings us the biography of 'just Harvey Pekar'. He has his own comic book too, but there are no hidden identities, no damsels in distress and certainly no heroics. Harvey gets up, goes to work as a clerk, has coffee, complains about the weather and argues with his wife Joyce. The movie of his life, directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, doesn't just break the fourth wall, it bulldozes it and invites us to claw through the rubble. The camera pans across and out of the set, we see the recording of the voiceovers, the actors at the buffet table, and the sardonic comments of Pekar himself about the movie's production. Paul Giametti (Big Fat Liar, The Truman Show) plays Harvey, and what a job he does. Seeing as different comic artists have drawn Harvey in numerous different styles, from a young Brando to a hulking caveman, Giametti manages to retaining the essence of Harvey, without worrying about the absolute reality of the character.

At times, it's useful to have the real people of this saga in front of us on screen, because otherwise we might be led to believe that they themselves were just characters. No-one could be as neurotic as Harvey's wife Joyce, no-one really talks like Toby Radloff, the self confessed nerd. But they do, and here they are in glorious technicolour, allowing us a glimpse into their world, which they describe as 'mundane'.

The actual life of Pekar is anything but. He met the Fritz the Cat artist Robert Crumb who convinced him to put his life into a comic book, met his wife Joyce through selling those comic books, became a rent-a-laugh whipping boy on the Letterman show and famously fought back on one angry installment, got testicular cancer and adopted his friend's daughter. A full enough life for anyone to lead, but still described as ordinary and mundane. You will come away from this movie with a place in your heart for Harvey, Joyce and Toby, and a profound sense of relief that these people really do exist in real life. Footage of Harvey and Joyce at the Cannes film festival, complaining about doing interviews when they should be enjoying themselves, and mentioning how little money they make from these jaunts, shows that not everyone with a tenuous hold on fame wants to milk it.

The DVD extras include a documentary about the film makers and stars experiences at Comic Con, Cannes and the Sundance Festival. There is also some original art, a recording of a song written for the play 'American Splendor' and a free comic book entitled 'Our Movie Year'. This is a sweet and heartwarming movie which is well worth owning.