American Splendor

FADE IN:

.

INT. HARVEY’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

A BEDROOM MIRROR.

The room is dark. A perfectly square mirror hangs crooked on

.

a wall.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, the reflection of a man’s face

comes into focus. He stares straight ahead, perhaps studying

his own unrecognizable reflection. It’s quite clear this is

a portrait of sickness; the man’s pallor is gray, his eyes

are confused. There is something most definitely wrong.

.

Tentatively, the figure steps away from the mirror, leaving .

the frame empty and dark.

ANGLE ON BED .

.

Like a ghost, the naked man (Harvey) stands over his bed

staring down at his sleeping wife (Joyce). In the eerie

.

light, he’s almost translucent.

HARVEY:

(faintly) .

Joyce ... Joyce?

Joyce springs up, alarmed. .

JOYCE:

What are you

What’s wrong, Harvey?

doing up?

Harvey just stands there for a moment saying nothing.

JOYCE (cont’d)

What is it?

HARVEY:

(delirious, out of breath)

Tell me the truth. Am I some guy

who writes about himself in a comic

book? Or am I just --am I just a

character in that book?

.

Joyce rubs her eyes.

JOYCE:

Harvey ...

2.

HARVEY:

If I die, will ‘dat character keep

goin’? Or will he just fade away

...

Joyce just stares at him, unsure how to answer. Suddenly

Harvey collapses.

Joyce leaps from the bed, nervous, hysterical. She gets down

on the floor and shakes him.

JOYCE:

Omigod, Harvey! Harvey, wake up!

CLOSE ON HARVEY’S FACE

His eyes remain closed, his expression far, far away.

FADE TO BLACK:

EXT. CLEVELAND ROW HOUSE - FALL - 1956 - DAY

FADE UP ON:

A surreal kaleidoscope of black, white and red. Similar to

the mirror scene above, the colors slowly come into focus,

revealing the chiseled features of a familiar face. But this

time we see that it is not a real face, but rather a plastic

mask of the D.C. Comic hero -- SUPERMAN.

.

INTERTITLE:
CLEVELAND OHIO, 1956

CLOSE ON SUPERMAN MASK

It glows eerily in the light of a porch lamp. A child’s

pupils glare through the eye holes ...

The camera pans from SUPERMAN to the masked face of another

caped-crusader:
BATMAN. Batman turns toward his loyal sidekick

ROBIN, who clutches a plastic, trick-or-treat pumpkin.

Next, we find THE GREEN LANTERN as he reaches up to ring the

doorbell. The camera finally rests on the last boy: an

unkempt KID wearing no costume at all.

Looking irritated and removed from the rest of the group, the

KID shoves his hands in the pockets of his shearling coat.

He spits and rolls his eyes as a lady answers the door.

The brick home is as working class as it gets. The lady at

the door is a 1950’s HOUSEWIFE.

3.

BOYS:

(in unison)

Trick or treat!!

HOUSEWIFE:

Well, look at this! All the superheroes

on the porch! Ain’t that

cute.

The Lady drops a candy apple in each boy’s container.

HOUSEWIFE (cont’d)

(still yelling)

We got Superman here, Batman, his

sidekick ROBIN, ohh, The Green

Lantern even ...

She finally stops at the costumeless KID. He halfheartedly

holds up a ratty, stained pillowcase.

HOUSEWIFE (cont’d)

And what about you young man?

KID:

What about what?

The other boys giggle. The kid flashes them a “kick yer ass”

look.

HOUSEWIFE:

Who are you supposed to be?

The kid shrugs.

KID:

I’m Harvey Pekar (pronounced “Pee

Car”).

HOUSEWIFE:

Harvey Pekar? That doesn’t sound

like a super hero to me...

BOYS:

(mumbling)

Pecker, Pecker ...

KID:

I ain’t no super hero, lady. I’m

just a kid from the neighborhood,

alright?

The Housewife stares at him, confused.

4.

KID (cont’d)

Ahh, forget this...

Frustrated, the kid throws his pillowcase down. He trudges

off as the others watch in confusion.

KID (cont’d)

Why is everybody so stoopid?

BEGIN NERVOUS JAZZ SCORE

WE FOLLOW the schlumpy kid (aka HARVEY PEKAR) as he sulks

down the street...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. CLEVELAND ROW HOUSE - FALL - 1975 - DUSK

INTERTITLE:
CLEVELAND OHIO, 1975

A grown-up version of HARVEY PEKAR (now mid-thirties) stomps

along the same Cleveland street. Unfortunately, 20 years

have made this rust belt neighborhood a bit rustier. The

“GROWN UP HARVEY” dons the same shearling coat, sports the

same disheveled hair, and wears the same curmudgeonly

expression.

CREDIT SEQUENCE - ANIMATED SEQUENCE

INTERCUT HARVEY WALKING WITH COMIC BOOK PANELS OF THE CARTOON

HARVEY IN ACTION. This is not your typical super-hero stuff.

Instead it features our man engaging in such daredevil feats

as:

INT. CITY BUS - FALL 1975 - DAY

--Riding the city bus.

INT. V.A. HOSPITAL - DAY

--Working as a file clerk at the Veteran’s Hospital.

INT. HARVEY’S APARTMENT / KITCHEN - DAY

--Trying to wash dishes.

5.

INT. SUPERMARKET - DAY

--Waiting on line at the supermarket.

EXT. GARAGE SALE - DAY

--Buying used records from a garage sale table.

INT. GREASY SPOON DINER - DAY

--Eating junk food at a greasy spoon.

INT. HARVEY’S APARTMENT - DAY

Harvey fixes a rip in his coat with Elmer’s Glue.

(Note:
Each “Cartoon Harvey” looks similar but unique... A

variation on a theme. This is because his cartoons are drawn

by different comic artists.)

Intermittently, bold cartoon credits flash across the screen:

.

FROM OFF THE STREETS OF CLEVELAND COMES ...

Followed by the explosive title:

AMERICAN SPLENDOR

The high-energy music and upbeat titles -- in direct contrast

to the sulking image of Harvey -- continue through the

remainder of the credits.

EXT. CLEVELAND STREET OVERLOOKING FACTORIES - DAY

We’re now on HARVEY’S back as he continues his forlorn

journey. We move forward, past him, to peer over the hill at

the factories below.

REAL HARVEY (V.O.)

Okay. We’re throwing a lot at ya

here, so lemme step in an’ help ya

catch up. This is the story about

comic books, an’ a guy who made a

whole life outta them. You could

even say comics saved his life.

This guy here, he’s our man, Harvey

Pekar -- all grown up and goin’

nowhere.

6.

REAL HARVEY(cont'd)

Although he’s a pretty scholarly

cat, he never got much of a formal

education. For the most part, he’s

lived in sh*t neighborhoods, held

sh*t jobs, and is now knee deep

into a second disastrous marriage.

So if yer lookin’ for romance or

escapism or some fantasy figure to

save the day, guess what? Ya got

the wrong movie.

SUDDENLY EVERYTHING--THE MUSIC, THE CREDITS, THE IMAGES-COMES

TO A HALT.

CUT TO:

INT. SOUND STAGE - PRESENT - DAY

HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE

The REAL HARVEY PEKAR (not the actor who trudged through the

credits) sits behind a microphone, supplying the “voice over”

above. He clutches a movie script in his hand.

The frame is spare, with a few well-chosen items to indicate

that he’s in a recording session.

Although he is significantly older than the man who portrays

him, the “Real Harvey” is every bit as much of a sad sack...

maybe even more.

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