More Everything!

“I felt more alone that week than any. Sometimes I’d feel a body lying next to me like an amputee feels a phantom limb. All I did was think about Jennie Gerhardt and Alice Quinn and all the decades of people I had known. The more I thought, the more I felt like crying. Life seemed so sweet and so sad, and so hard to let go of in the end. But hey, man, every day is a brand new deal, right? Just keep on working and something’s bound to turn up.”

Wow…I had completely forgotten what a great film, American Splendor really is. It so rare to find a completely original film, that just grabs your attention and keeps hold for 101 minutes. It is really hard to describe the film, but I guess I will go ahead and do it anyway: The film is a look at Harvey Pekar, a hospital file-clerk from Cleveland, who decides to start writing underground comic books about his life. No super powers, no costumes, just everyday life, since “Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.”

Paul Giamatti plays Pekar during most of the film (I say most, since there are some quasi-documentary parts that involve the real Pekar and also some animated sequences that are torn from the pages of the comic books) and he nails it. No matter what Giamatti is doing in this film, you want to see what happens next. Hope Davis also stars, as his 3rd wife Joyce. She so gets this complex role, that she turns this odd woman into such a lovable person, you are willing to embrace and accept her.

The film has such a unique look and moves seamlessly through its different styles. I give lots of credit to the two directors and am sad that they really haven’t worked much since the making of this film (The Nanny Diaries?!?!).

I had such a good time watching this film that I kept thinking, I can’t wait until my son is older and I can show him this movie and tell him that not all movies are about giant robots and caped crusaders. Some of them are just about living life, but they are still just as exciting!

My first DVD that I am going to KEEP.