This is, may I say, one of the nicest surprises in a long while. Like the comic book it is based on, sharp, real and in many ways, a revelation of how to take the mundane and make it dramatic, unique and at times, touching.

Paul Giamatti, who is truly deserving of at least a Best Actor nomination, was totally denied one this year. Perhaps for the same reason Jim Carrey never nailed one for his work in Man on the Moon, playing a semi-unlikeable, only known in certain circles artist. I mention Carrey for the fact that Giamatti disappears within the role as well and captures every nuance of write Pekar and makes him oddly likeable despite the gloom and doom nature he spews forth.

What I truly like about this film is the mix of the real and unreal with the film, bouncing between documentary style / behind the scenes footage with the actual 'Hollywood' film version of Pekar's life being played out in front of you.You get fed some pretty wild little tangents and characters that may seem TOO eclectic, TOO bizarre, and then the directors present you with the real life counterparts and you have to swallow any disbelief.

It is these odd twists in real life that make up strange but true columns in newspapers and yet Harvey Pekar has lived one. You find out how he sits in his dead end file clerk job while becoming an celebrated cult hero of the underground comic industry before leaping into the public consciousness with stints on the Late Night With David Letterman in the mid-80's. How his loneliness led into an improbable meeting with a fan and resulted in a single date - life long marriage situation. Or the events surrounding his year long bout fighting cancer that resulted in his adopting a daughter from an artist who illustrated his comic. Most bizarrely, you get to see how Revenge of the Nerds can be used not so much as a pop culture reference but as a rallying cry for all those who are different. This may not seem a shock to you but as I watched Pekar's buddy Toby Radloff see such a mindless fun flick as a beacon of hope I almost felt guilty about some of the hatchett jobs I have done on films that may have been turning points in others lives. On the other hand, shame on them for having picked such films when so many other worthy ones exist.

Either way, check out American Splendor and know you are not going to get your Hollywood fantasy fill, but you will see something unique.

4 Stars out of 5.

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Copyright© Written By: Rob Paul
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The DVD Review:
Some fun little features on this disc. For one you get a little featurette that brings you up to date on the Pekar family since the film was wrapped. You watch them make the rounds from Sundance, to Cannes to the New York premiere of the flick.

Another fun feature is simply going into the special features section and listening to the dialogue between the Toby Radloff 'nerd' character and a drive thru voice box...some pretty funny dialogue that runs for about a minute.

Easter Egg: Flip over to the languages section and watch for a small record player to pop up...when it does, highlight it and you will get a one minute featurette on some special effects employed in the film.

But that's not all! Click on the speaker box of the driver thru and you will get a minute clip on Toby Radloff and if you flip over to the Special Features main menu once more, click on 'specifications' and push up you will see the coffee mug change. Hit enter and there is a short clip with RObert Crumb.