Thursday, August 17, 2006

Giamatti is American Splendor!!

Ok... time to role back into action....
but first I must get one thing off my chest... this blogger thing is cruel.. I typed in the entire review and then I clicked on a link to test it out.. and there went my review... I had to re-write the entire thing again.. from memory.. to me the first draft was better than this.. but what to do...so here goes...

This is the story of a Harvey Pekar... If you don't don't know he is.. you're not the only one... I didn't either... a file clerk at a local hospital...As is the case... this is the story of a nobody who tried to be somebody... through creating comics of his everyday life... and maybe through creating this movie as well..'American Splendor'


but first... the cast...
well mainly Paul Giamatti playing the weird Harvey Pekar... and you'll also get to see the real Harvey Pekar aswell..
along side a few nobodies... all good actors... but none could even come close to the amazing performance that Giamatti pulled off...
the awards are endless including an oscar nomination for best screenplay..

I really loved the way the film was made... the script was very original and maybe did Harvey more than he deserves.... The guy is an absolute dork... and I'm not being nice here... really... The film is narrated by the real Pekar in the flesh.. no cameo roles but an actual one... the movie moves back and forth between Giamatti playing the role and the real Harvey sitting in the Studio adding his comments in... which, in my opinion, was brilliant... It kinda gives you a nice break from the movie but it really isn't.. it's more of an emphasis that truly Giamatti is this guy he's portraying... another point to mention is that in these brief intermissions of a sort... Harvey's friends who featured in his comics are in the film.. One of his friends is an absolute NERD and I couldn't emphasize more on the word NERD.. now you'd think that this is only acting and the actor MUST be exaggerating the role... the guy can't be like that in real life... but.. in comes harvey with his real friend... and guess what... he was exactly as the actor... speaking through his nose... big glasses... and apparently is very passionate about the movie "Revenge of the nerds III'.. go figure...

The movie also had the interviews.. Harvey was a guest (more than once) at Letterman's... the real footage has been fit in... the last one was acted out.. but if the previous ones were real.. I'm guessing that the acted one was as good... no question about it...

An artistic touch... as the pic above.. the film is shot as a comic book... so basically as Harvey is thinking a bubbles appears by his head with his thoughts scribbled in... or the top left hand corner would have a yellow box.. with the words 'Meanwhile...'.. very very original.. so what you see in the pic does NOT apply to the pic only but the entire movie...

Overall... Harvey is a character and half... it's his story on how he started the comics... got married... got cancer... and making this movie...
Giamatti was brilliant... it was this role that got him critically acclaimed.. I like him.. and after watching him in this movie.. I have high hopes for him... he had acted out almost the first half of the movie without a voice.. since something was wrong with Harvey's vocals from screaming too much... add that to the body language.. the posture.. the eye movements... gives you a Harvey Pekar original...

Verdict: a story of a 'wannabe' who managed to become a 'be'... great script... great acting...and worth watching for the acting and the mix between fictionalized graphics and the movie...
just don't buy the comics.. apparently it's not great...
but as Harvey says...
'Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff' for which you can write comics about...

Over and out...
Cosmic..

3 comments:

Cosmic girl said...

balushi...
should I say welcome back?
yes I had to write most of it..
and as for janet.. trust me it would be no cat fight if she were in front of me... I can be really nasty... and.. I'm a thai boxer... she wouldn't know what hit her...it's easy to hide behind a PC... but when it's face to face... it's totally different...
but having said that... don't we all know that you were Janet...

Cosmic girl said...

janet = balushi
balushi = janet
therefore.. JANET was BALUSHI and BALUSHI was Janet..

Cosmic girl said...

Balushi + Janet = one seriously demented person...
now drop it..