American Splendor (2003): An inventive, funny and frequently touching look at the life of groundbreaking comic-book writer Harvey Pekar. Part feature, part documentary, it offers Paul Giamatti playing the acerbic Pekar alongside Pekar himself, with Hope Davis playing his wife, Joyce, alongside the real-life Joyce. It's joyous with the possibility of experimentation. Pekar, who died this summer, was a complicated guy, so approaching him from a ... more 

American Splendor (2003): An inventive, funny and frequently touching look at the life of groundbreaking comic-book writer Harvey Pekar. Part feature, part documentary, it offers Paul Giamatti playing the acerbic Pekar alongside Pekar himself, with Hope Davis playing his wife, Joyce, alongside the real-life Joyce. It's joyous with the possibility of experimentation. Pekar, who died this summer, was a complicated guy, so approaching him from a variety of angles paints an even more compelling picture. And it works because longtime character actor Giamatti is tremendous here in his first lead role. less