An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Acting
Giamatti disappears; Pekar watches himself. Both heartbreaking.
Direction
Docudrama-cartoon hybrid shouldn't work. It absolutely does.
Writing
Dialogue so real it feels stolen from strangers.
Director
Robert Pulcini
Paul Giamatti
Harvey Pekar
Hope Davis
Joyce Brabner
Judah Friedlander
Toby Radloff
James Urbaniak
Robert Crumb
Earl Billings
Mr. Boats
James McCaffrey
Fred
Maggie Moore
Alice Quinn
Vivienne Benesch
Lana
Daniel Tay
Young Harvey
Harvey Pekar
Real Harvey
Donal Logue
Stage Actor Harvey
Josh Hutcherson
Robin
Molly Shannon
Stage Actor Joyce
Toby Radloff
Toby Radloff
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Harvey Pekar kept filing at the VA hospital until 2001, two years before this film's release. He never quit his day job.
Robert Crumb's involvement isn't just a cameo — he essentially discovered Pekar, illustrating his comics for decades despite finding Harvey personally exhausting. Their friendship outlasted fame.
US
