After hearing nothing but good things about 'American Splendor,' I thought that I'd give it a try. I'm definitely glad that I did.

'American Splendor' is a movie about famed comic book genius Harvey Pekar and how he turned his rather mundane existence into a comic book.

What I most liked about the movie is that the directors and writers were extremely playful with the movie format. Sometimes the actors would walk off stage and the real people that they were playing would start talking to the camera. Sometimes, the actors would sit in their "actors chairs" while the real people they were portraying talked in front of the camera. It was really clever the way the director could keep telling the narrative story while going into an almost documentary mode.

The acting in the movie was really excellent. I have absolutely no problem with any of the acting in the movie. I was particularly impressed with Paul Giamatti's take on Harvey Pekar. I don't know who you could have excluded this year, but I think that he deserved an Oscar nomination for his role. If anything, I think that maybe Johnny Depp could have stayed home. But even that's a tough call. I guess it was a good year for both acting.

I was equally impressed with how the movie was edited to feel just like a comic book. It reminded me of the way 'The Hulk' was edited, but even then, 'American Splendor' did a more credible job of giving a movie a comic book feel.

I really wasn't aware that there were comic books like 'American Splendor' out there, but this movie has definitely piqued my interest. I haven't been to a comic book store since I was like...14 or something. But if I ever found myself in a comic book store again, I'd more than likely check out 'American Splendor' just to see how every day life could be adapted into a comic book.

Overall a pretty solid movie. It has equal parts drama, comedy, and heartwarming elements to it. I'd definitely see it again.


matt out