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American Splendor [DVD] [2004]
 
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American Splendor [DVD] [2004]

DVD ~ Paul Giamatti
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Customers buy this item with Ghost World [DVD] [2001] DVD ~ Thora Birch

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  • This item: American Splendor [DVD] [2004] DVD ~ Paul Giamatti

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Ghost World [DVD] [2001] DVD ~ Thora Birch

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

American Splendor [DVD] [2004]
84% buy the item featured on this page:
American Splendor [DVD] [2004] 4.6 out of 5 stars (10)
£4.98
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The Station Agent [DVD] [2004]
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Product details

  • Actors: Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose
  • Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
  • Writers: Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Robert Pulcini, Joyce Brabner
  • Producers: Christine K. Walker, Declan Baldwin
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 24 May 2004
  • Run Time: 97 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000216XRQ
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 15,224 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

One of the most acclaimed films of 2003, American Splendor is also one of the most audaciously creative biographical movies ever made. Blending fact, fiction and personal perspective from the comic books that inspired it, this marvellous portrait of Harvey Pekar--scowling curmudgeon, brow-beaten everyman, insightful chronicler of his own life, and frustrated file clerk at a Cleveland VA hospital--is an inspired amalgam of the media (comic books, TV, and film) that lifted Pekar from obscurity to the status of a pop-cultural icon. As played by Paul Giamatti in a master-stroke of casting, we see Pekar and his understanding wife (played by Hope Davis) as underdogs in a world full of obstacles, yet also infused with subtle hope and (gasp) heartwarming perseverance. We also see the real Pekar and this multi-faceted commingling of "reel" and "real" turns American Splendor into a uniquely cinematic celebration of Pekar's life and, by extension, the tenacity of an unlikely American hero. --Jeff Shannon


Special Features

  • Introductions to DVD extras by Harvey Pekar
  • Group Audio Commentary with Directors, cast & Harvey Pekar
  • Harvey at the BBC: Interview with Harvey Pekar
  • Featurette: Sundance Channel's Road to Splendor
  • Behind the Scenes: mini-featurettes on characterization, title sequence and Robert Crumb
  • Trailers

DVD Technical Information:

  • Running Time: 96 minutes
  • Region Code: 2
See all Reviews

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars How utterly joyful it is to be so depressed!, 18 Jan 2006
By Mr. P. D. Gregson-allcott "thegerg" (Muppet heaven!) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I loved it, showed it to my friends, who also loved it, and then read the comics, which has led me to a whole new genre of good quality writing; on both the ills and highlights of real life. It also includes a healthy dose of sarcasm and to those Brits who say that the Americans lack a sarcastic side, please watch Pekar to prove you utterly wrong.

For those who know the comics, this movie includes Harvey Pekar in the movie and he is even funnier on film than he is in comic-book form. He is ALSO played by Paul Giamatti who seems to have been honing his skills playing a depressive, which he expertly reprises in Sideways. Although I think that Giamatti is actually better in Splendor than he is in Sideways and for those of you who haven't seen him in Duets, I urge you to see it as it is his best role in any movie. If anyone deserves an Oscar, this guy does!

The film covers most of Harvey Pekar's life up until the movie and thus covers highlights of his comic's many years. I feel that it show's the man that I wished Pekar to be and by including interviews with both him and Joyce during the movie (and in the extra's) I hope it at least gave Pekar a voice. Although whether we see the real man is impossible to know as so much is always left out in a 2hr movie.

Overall, the movie made me laugh and is weird enough to be genuinely innovative, especially the comic book format that begins the film, which is so much more effective than the comic-book style used in Ang Lee's "The Hulk".

Here's hoping this movie (and Pekar's comic books) get a wide audience, because they deserve one!

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 10 Jun 2004
By moonmoth (Glasgow, Strathclyde United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
I can't believe that there have been no reviews so far for this excellent movie. Its so audacious in places that I couldn't believe they could get away with it. One scene has the the real life Harvey Pekar and his wife watching the actors playing them watching a dramatised version of his life where other actors play actors playing them. Phew! You don't have to be a comic book fan to watch this and you don't need to be a fan of Harvey Pekars comic books which I confess I've never read. The success of his comic is based I think on his common appeal. Its precisely this appeal that makes American Splendour - the movie, appealing in its own way. Far from being depressing its uplifting,funny and moving and what else can you ask for in a movie?
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Spledid biopic, 11 Jun 2004
By Stephen Newton (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
2004 hit the ground running with this inspired biography that says turn to these comics for a taste of real American life and goes on to define just what's real. Inevitably, Pekar is as atypical as everyone else and the frequent discontinuity of the narrative makes for an innovative exploration of identity.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic but sadly overlooked. Buy, steal or hire it.
I am a avid comics fan but have never been into the alternative underground comiz fad. I knew of Harvey Peckar and had seen his drawings but they didn't appeal. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. G. Bridgeman-clarke

4.0 out of 5 stars Drugs could help do you think
They pulled of an almost challenge; to make a fascinating film about a terminally boring individual. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Jay Zee

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, quirky little drama with Paul Giamatti on top form
If there's something character actor Paul Giamatti does better than anyone, it's playing likable loser roles. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2007 by Franklin T Marmoset

5.0 out of 5 stars A quirky film with many, many rewards
This film tells the tale of Harvey Pekar, a man disgruntled with the world around him and with unique voice for storytelling, which was put to bizarre use through the chance... Read more
Published on 15 May 2007 by Thomas Hugh

4.0 out of 5 stars good movie
I loved this movie and didnt know much about the comic. It was really cool, funny and moving
Published on 16 Aug 2005 by Russell LEAK

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and funny film!
Paul Giamatti is really really good in this film! He nails the part right on; it's a great story, and the film is really funny. Read more
Published on 19 April 2005 by averisa

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
I can't believe that there have been no reviews so far for this excellent movie. Its so audacious in places that I couldn't believe they could get away with it. Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2004 by moonmoth

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