American Splendor Page #4

Synopsis: Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his American Splendor a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait.
Production: Fine Line Features
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 31 wins & 49 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.5
Metacritic:
90
Rotten Tomatoes:
94%
R
Year:
2003
101 min
$5,977,550
Website
433 Views


Operate? Harvey gets nervous again. The Doctor throws him

his clothing.

CUT TO:

EXT. CLEVELAND STREET - WINTER - 1975 - DAY

A silent sequence. A dejected HARVEY walks home alone along

an empty lot. Day-old dirty snow clings to the ground.

He wanders through a down-in-the-heels neighborhood, passing

run-down stores and ramshackle apartments.

EXT. BUS STOP - WINTER - 1975 - DAY

Harvey approaches TOBY -- a dumpy 20-something going on 60something

in ridiculous, mismatched polyester clothing. He

is odd, awkward and talks with a monotone, robotic voice. In

short, he is a super dork.

TOBY:

Hi Harvey. You weren’t in work

today. Are you okay, Harvey?

Harvey barely looks up. He nods his head “yes” and keeps

walking.

TOBY (cont’d)

(yelling after him)

I’m heading downtown to the White

Castle. Wanna come, Harvey?

10.

Harvey leaves Toby behind and turns the corner.

EXT. DELI - WINTER - 1975 - DAY

Two WOMEN argue loudly over a payphone.

SPANISH WOMAN #1 (IN SPANISH)

I already told you, I’m waiting for

a call!

SPANISH WOMAN #2

Oh yeah? Since when is this your

private office?!

SPANISH WOMAN #1

Since you can kiss my ass.

Harvey stops in his tracks and stares at them, jealous of

their ability to speak.

.

CLOSE UP:
SPANISH WOMAN #1’s MOUTH

HARVEY:

(to himself)

Look at ‘em yakkin’. How do they

do it?

Out of the corner of her eye, WOMAN #2 notices Harvey

eavesdropping.

WOMAN #2

(yelling at Harvey)

Ay, what are you looking at?

Maricone!

Startled, Harvey moves on.

EXT. ACROSS FROM A PARK - WINTER - 1975 - DAY

He passes a group of KIDS playing in the snow. They scream,

yell and laugh with abandon.

HARVEY:

(shaking his head)

They all make it seem so easy.

Then, BAM! Harvey is awakened from his reverie by a

snowball. The kids laugh loudly. He wipes away the snow and

walks on.

A VOICE OVER interrupts the scene.

11.

REAL HARVEY (V.O.)

Here’s our man walking home from

the doctor’s. He’s got the weight

of the world on him. And fer what,

really? ‘Cause his throat’s a

little screwy? Man, people in

India are starvin’ to death every

day. His problems are nothin’.

CUT TO:

EXT. BRIDGE OVER TRAIN TRACKS - DAY

Totally dejected, HARVEY crosses over train tracks on his way

home.

REAL HARVEY (V.O.)

Still, he can’t help feelin’

paranoid, like some supernatural

force is conspiring against him to

rob him of his voice.

EXT. HARVEY’S APARTMENT - WINTER - 1975 - DAY

Harvey sulks up the steps of his brick low-rise apartment

building. He passes an ELDERLY NEIGHBOR coming down the walk

with her shopping cart. Harvey unlocks the door.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Harvey Pekar

Harvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. more…

All Harvey Pekar scripts | Harvey Pekar Scripts

0 fans

Submitted by aviv on October 31, 2016

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "American Splendor" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/american_splendor_347>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    American Splendor

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.