Photo courtesy Fine Line Features Joyce (Hope Davis) and Harvey (Paul Giamatti) aren't Catwoman and Batman, but they get by just fine.

Rating: 3.5

I don't do much killing or crime fighting, and I'm not a talking duck.

I pretty much suck when it comes to having classical comic book personality traits.

But giving hope to all of us who suck is Harvey Pekar, the lead character in "American Splendor."

"Splendor" is the true story of everyman Pekar (Paul Giamatti), divorced twice and sleepwalking through his meaningless job as a file clerk. Pekar's few passions include collecting records and comic books.

Although his artistic brilliance doesn't translate onto the page, he decides his daily routine could be as exciting as any Spandex wearing superhero. With the help of a friend he meets at a garage sale, comic book artist Robert Crumb (James Urbaniak), Pekar gets illustrations to go with his words and his comic book series, American Splendor, is published.

And then his life changes. Somewhat. Still miserable and womanless, he's a cult hero without any money. Until, finally, boy meets girl. Fortunately, their courting doesn't take up much of the movie, as they decide to get married after an awful first date.

With an awkward marriage and mildly profitable comic book, we get to see a poignant but hilarious stretch through Pekar's life where his fame increases while happiness continues to elude him.

The film documents his trips to the David Letterman show and his quirky conversations with his friends at work, including a scene-stealing, self-proclaimed nerd named Toby (Judah Friedlander).

And as we see this, we hear it from the real-life Pekar, who narrates the film and is interviewed during various segments to comment on moments in his life. There are also scenes where live action and animation coexist.

The filmmakers decide to make the audience painfully aware, time and again, that these are actors playing the real people with cameras being shown and actors taking a seat after doing a scene.

But Giamatti's portrayal of the character derived from the comics is much more interesting than the real life Pekar, who has aged and is about as exciting as Wonderwoman after menopause.

This partial documentary style is original and works well sometimes.

However, most times it simply disrupts the flow of a truly compelling story.

As soon as Giamatti draws the audience into the story, the real-life Pekar is there to give another tedious line about what he was thinking at the time.

"American Splendor" is an important and innovative film. Not often enough do true and unconventional characters like Harvey Pekar get to grace the big screen.

Unfortunately, the real life Pekar spends too much time trying to play the hero.

And no one wants to see Batman eating dinner at Hometown Buffet at 4 p.m., even in the most untraditional of comic books.