American Splendor

Cast View all

	Chris Ambrose	Superman
	Joey Krajcar	Batman
	Josh Hutcherson	Robin
	Cameron Carter	Green Lantern
	Daniel Tay	Young Harvey
	Mary Faktor	Housewife
	Paul Giamatti	Harvey Pekar
	Harvey Pekar	Real Harvey
	Shari Springer Berman	Interviewer
	Larry John Meyers	Throat Doctor
	Vivienne Benesch	Lana
	Barbara Brown	Nurse
	Earl Billings	Mr. Boats
	Danny Hoch	Marty
	James Urbaniak	Robert Crumb
	Eli Ganias	Pahls
	Sylvia Kauders	Old Jewish Lady
	Rebecca Borger	Cashier
	Nick Baxter	Mattress Guy #1
	Allen Branstein	Mattress Guy #2
	Dick Prochaska	WW II Patient
	Charles Eduardos	Doctor
	Judah Friedlander	Toby Radloff
	Robert Pulcini	Bob The Director
	Toby Radloff	Real Toby

Crew View all

Director	Shari Springer Berman
	Robert Pulcini
Writer	Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Producer	Declan Baldwin, Ted Hope, Julia King, Christine K. Walker
Musician	Mark Suozzo
Photography	Terry Stacey

Personal

Notes

Story Synopsis:
Based on Harvey Pekar’s comic book series by the same name and "Our Cancer Year" by Pekar and Joyce Brabner, "American Splendor" introduces us to Harvey Pekar (Giamatti), a bona fide American original. This curmudgeon from Cleveland, who works as a V.A. hospital file clerk, finds humor in his everyday life and begins, in 1976, to write down his ideas in the pages of his own comic book, American Splendor. A creative blend of comic book animation, dramatization, archival footage, and documentary-style interviews with the real people who inspired "American Splendor," this is one story you won’t want to miss. The thematic opening credits are great! The adapted screenplay by directing team Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman was nominated for an Oscar®, but the entire movie was, arguably, snubbed by the Academy. (Suzanne Hodges)

DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD picture has an understated appearance. Colors are well balanced with satisfying fleshtones and deep blacks, but often has an intentionally drab appearance. Images are generally sharp and nicely detailed, though finer textures tend to be lacking. The source element is revealing of film grain and some dirt and artifacts that add a gritty texture to the picture. Pixel breakup is noticed at times, and there are scenes that are completely plagued by edge enhancement. (Suzanne Hodges)

Soundtrack:
The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack, mislabeled on the jacket as only Dolby Surround and encoded at 384 kbps instead of the usual 448 kbps, exhibits excellent fidelity with a very full sound, even at a lower encoded bit rate. Dialogue is squarely placed in the front center channel with a minimal amount of audio information in the other four audio channels. When the music is played in the film, usually to move the story along, this information usually appears in the front left and front right channels, with just enough in the surround channels to be noticed. Content from the movie is split into two halves: one part documentary-style and one part regular movie. The sound design is smooth across the board, as one part flows into the other with ease and transparency. This is a subtle and quiet audio mix that seemingly faithfully recreates the somewhat quiet life of Harvey Pekar, who is the subject matter of the film. (Jeffrey Kern)

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