This film is a very rare thing of beauty. It snuck up on me when I was least expecting it.
Everyone says that Pekar's art of storytelling is based on the gritty ordinariness of his life. However, the reason that Harvey's autobiographical comics became popular is that he openly bares his intense, larger-than-life negative emotions, triggered by nearly every interaction in his world. He's an outsized curmudgeon, a drama queen of the beaten-down common man. That's all here, too. The result is comedy, drama, pathos, and reluctant redemption.
However, none of that speaks to the structure of the film, which I think is brilliant in its own right. It's the story of Pekar, the story of Pekar's comics, the story of Pekar writing his comics, it's the real Pekar himself, the story of the actors playing Pekar, even the story of the filmmakers making the film about Pekar, all deftly interwoven into an unlikely tour-de-force. In lesser hands, it might have fallen apart into trite gimmicks and tired cliches, but not here. Archive footage of actual talk-show appearances conspires with brilliantly acted and directed scenes, original art from the comics, live-action storyboard collages, and scenes of an actual present-day interview of the real Harvey conducted by the director in a surreal composite white-box studio. And yet, with all the changes in story-telling mode, you never lose the narrative.
This is not a simple story. Pekar never let his existence be simple or mundane, despite any hype to the contrary. To tell the story, the filmmakers made a structurally very complex and beautiful film. Yet, the film is even easier to watch than the comics were to read. And, in my opinion, far more entertaining. This is one of those rare movies where the audience applauds at the end, not for any satisfying twist in the story, but for the film itself.
Everyone says that Pekar's art of storytelling is based on the gritty ordinariness of his life. However, the reason that Harvey's autobiographical comics became popular is that he openly bares his intense, larger-than-life negative emotions, triggered by nearly every interaction in his world. He's an outsized curmudgeon, a drama queen of the beaten-down common man. That's all here, too. The result is comedy, drama, pathos, and reluctant redemption.
However, none of that speaks to the structure of the film, which I think is brilliant in its own right. It's the story of Pekar, the story of Pekar's comics, the story of Pekar writing his comics, it's the real Pekar himself, the story of the actors playing Pekar, even the story of the filmmakers making the film about Pekar, all deftly interwoven into an unlikely tour-de-force. In lesser hands, it might have fallen apart into trite gimmicks and tired cliches, but not here. Archive footage of actual talk-show appearances conspires with brilliantly acted and directed scenes, original art from the comics, live-action storyboard collages, and scenes of an actual present-day interview of the real Harvey conducted by the director in a surreal composite white-box studio. And yet, with all the changes in story-telling mode, you never lose the narrative.
This is not a simple story. Pekar never let his existence be simple or mundane, despite any hype to the contrary. To tell the story, the filmmakers made a structurally very complex and beautiful film. Yet, the film is even easier to watch than the comics were to read. And, in my opinion, far more entertaining. This is one of those rare movies where the audience applauds at the end, not for any satisfying twist in the story, but for the film itself.