Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Mom and Dad finally saw “American Splendor.” Fine Line’s Jennifer Stott helped me set that up as a birthday surprise. I flew in with Danielle and stayed at my brother’s house. The next morning they came over, unsuspecting. We had brunch then drove to a nearby cinema, recruited by FL for a screening. A few old friends met us in the lobby. I’d been given the name of the theater manager as a contact and I was nervous. I’d gone to a nearby college with someone who had the same unusual name and remembered he had movie and theater aspirations. How awful if he turned out to be the same guy, still trapped in Hometown, USA. I’d looked him up on the Internet and found a photo of a stodgy Shriner and real estate agent. That seemed even worse. I was dealing with some aspect of “The Harvey Pekar Name Story,” in which my spouse finds multiple “Harvey Pekars” listed in his new phone book. My old schoolmate must have escaped, as I did. The theater manager was too young. The college friends who joined my family were too old. When did their hair thin or turn gray? And why, at the end of the film, were their eyes teared over? Of all people, they should have known how the story ends. The thing that my pals have in common with Harvey is the way everyone’s life is turning out. One guy is a two-time survivor of cancer, like Harvey. Another left a hot rock band that draws large crowds even today because celebrity spooked him. He wanted to live a more ordinary life, have a family. I get the feeling there comes a time in men’s middle years when they have to weigh potential fulfilled and ambitions realized against how a life’s been lived. Not everything turned out the way we planned, at 21, but the guys, like Harvey, have worked hard, worked creatively and honorably and found families to love them. My own family digs the movie more than I would have guessed. I expected wisecracks, complaints and criticism, especially since they’ve been peeking at www.americansplendormovie.com and commenting on “that awful wig and big glasses,” that Hope wears as Joyce. Mom’s forgotten that I really did have long, stringy hair and huge lenses, but she also thinks Hope was right on point when it came to recreating gesture, mood and inner tension. This I’ll be happy to tell Ms. Davis when we meet again, probably at the LA or New York preview. (American Splendor opens August 15th!) 10:22:45 AM