The true story of Harvey Pekar, a misanthropic file clerk and comic book fan, who met Robert Crumb, and had the brilliant idea to turn his everyday trials and tribulations into a comic book. Sort of everyman as superman.
The film has Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis (both uncanny and terrific) playing the real life Harvey and his off-beat mate, while occasionally the real Harvey comments on it all ('this guy you got playin' me...') either in narration, or on camera in a kind of white room limbo set.
So, like the comic, the film plays with levels of reality, but goes it one better. There's the real Harvey, his lightly fictionalized counter-part from the cartoons, and the two actors, who seem to be playing a combination of both real and comic book creation.
Its all wonderfully playful and funny but still has room to be quite touching and human on occasion, and raises all sorts of interesting questions about what is 'truth' in storytelling and in life – what is a 'documentary'?, Are our own accounts of lives 'true?
It's a house of mirrors that leaves you smiling, thoughtful and touched at the dignity and insight of 'normal' people – which seems to be a big part of Pekar's seemingly grumpy argument. A lovely film with humor, heart and art that goes out and creates its own rules.
The film has Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis (both uncanny and terrific) playing the real life Harvey and his off-beat mate, while occasionally the real Harvey comments on it all ('this guy you got playin' me...') either in narration, or on camera in a kind of white room limbo set.
So, like the comic, the film plays with levels of reality, but goes it one better. There's the real Harvey, his lightly fictionalized counter-part from the cartoons, and the two actors, who seem to be playing a combination of both real and comic book creation.
Its all wonderfully playful and funny but still has room to be quite touching and human on occasion, and raises all sorts of interesting questions about what is 'truth' in storytelling and in life – what is a 'documentary'?, Are our own accounts of lives 'true?
It's a house of mirrors that leaves you smiling, thoughtful and touched at the dignity and insight of 'normal' people – which seems to be a big part of Pekar's seemingly grumpy argument. A lovely film with humor, heart and art that goes out and creates its own rules.