A comic-book biopic like no other is our choice for the one (HBO) Max movie that you have to watch in November 2024.
This month’s selection was an HBO original movie in 2003, but it was made on a relatively low budget for the independent film circuit. In the era before comic-book movies arrived multiple times per year, American Splendor bucked the trend by treating its subject and creator, Harvey Pekar, as a man who was extraordinary because he was so ordinary. The real Pekar was just a filing clerk who managed to make a name for himself in comics by writing short stories about his life and the people he encountered, which he had drawn up by artists.
While Pekar and members of his family and friends appear as themselves in American Splendor, they are used primarily as commentators on the dramatization of their lives. Co-directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini cast Paul Giamatti in the lead as Harvey Pekar at a moment when Giamatti’s career in Hollywood was beginning to really take off. And his performance as Pekar is one of the big reasons why you should watch American Splendor in November.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.Paul Giamatti is terrific as a flawed and relatable man
The late Harvey Pekar would probably have admitted that he wasn’t always the easiest man to like. Most of what we know about Pekar comes from his stories, and he wasn’t afraid to own up to his shortcomings.
