Pittsburgh

Played VERY tightly to reality,with not a single "cast" member playing anything besides themselves,this wryly intended parody of show business is played like a mockumentary,and while I certainly wasn't completely turned-off by it(Jeff Goldblum is so likable playing nearly anything that in playing himself as a subtle mocking of himself,he's actually EVEN MORE engaging than usual),I still felt like this show seemed to be so dry and minimalist that it lacks much in the way of "meat" and siphons away from the comedy.

Because of his romance with a fellow actress Catherine Wreford,and her need of a work visa to stay working the stage in the United States(she's from Canada),Mr.Goldblum interrupts his film career to take part in a civic theater production of "The Music Man" back in his home town of Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. Along the way,with plenty of skeptical outsiders(ranging from his oft-ignored agent to Conan O'Brien and Craig Kilborn),and his own personal doubts about the wisdom of going from reliable big screen presence to local theater,even for just a two-week limited engagement. Along the way,he manages to swing a co-starring support for the show from good friends Illeana Douglass and Ed Begley Jr.(who in turn enlists,quid pro quo,Jeff to help him do infomercials for his own patented environmentally friendly gadgets)and seems to re-connect with his old stomping grounds,though one doubts it'll be of any really lasting impression or emotional depth. Directors Chris Bradley and Kyle LaBranch don't seem to be sure if they are going for a Christopher Guest-like mockumentary(which,by using all players as themselves would suggest they weren't)or more of a meta-mocking of the biz(which they seem to not have the heart to really do by show's end),therefore making this film at best a mild curiosity with some laughs and at worst a sort of Luke-warm "inside" comedy that is going to leave plenty of viewers bored and/or displeased,even angry.

A rental curiosity really. The quick run of the show and the generally light treatment here make this not a total waste. One might be better served to not expect too much of it,though.

Contrary to most, I must say I did like this movie. At first I thought I wouldn't as it seemed just a documentary, but after a while it became engrossing. Maybe because I started out in show biz myself and in these regional type of productions too, so it all came back as realistic to me. I wouldn't have thought Jeff Goldblum could pull it off as a song and dance man, after seeing him in The Fly and Jurassic Park, but he did rather well, I thought. Maybe a bit too much mugging off stage as well as on, but on the whole, viewable and he worked very hard on this. I wondered what is it with the gum chewing all the way through? The movie gave a true sense of theater life on the amateur, regional level, and I suppose, other than Jeff and Ed Begley, none were Union and so were not paid, certainly not the children. I noticed the choreographer, who also acted a bit, is uncredited, yet every child no matter how insignificant is sure to be named. That's Civic Theater for you! Oh, he is listed on the movie credits at end of film but not on this site, but they often don't give the choreographer credit and if they do it's listed even below the location driver! Not fair at all! I well remember the film of Music Man with Robert Preston but could never figure out how 76 trombones would fit on any stage! But with a bit of stagecraft they did. I saw Music Man back during the 70s in the London West End with Van Johnson (sadly now (December 2008) gone at age 92) in the lead role.

This movie reminds me of a Chris Guest production. Excellent cast moves the story of Jeff trying to play the lead in "The Music Man." Robert Preston he is not, but he gives it his all. I enjoyed it and if you like satire with nuance, you will too.

This was a huge misfire--and the outtakes on the DVD show that it could have easily been a lot better! Pittsburg is a mockumentary in the Christopher Guest mold--and that's not a compliment these days. Though Guest's early mocks, like "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show" were classics, his more recent forays into the form have been virtually laughless exercises. Guest's excuse for cutting out the more absurd funny stuff in his later films was that the material didn't fit the reality he'd created--in other words, he fell in love with mediocrity. Well, this Guest-wannabe falls into the latter-day Guestomentary category. The concept is mildly clever--what would happen if the singularly weird, very ethnic Jeff Goldblum was convinced to play the very whitebread lead in a community theater production of the happyface 50s musical, The Music Man? Well, the filmmakers take that promising concept and suck all the humor and life right out of it. There is simply NOTHING funny OR interesting here! The film wouldn't even be interesting if it were actually a true documentary! But--and here's the weird part--if you watch the deleted scenes on the DVD, you get to see all kinds of stuff that was actually kind of funny, and was purposely cut out! It's incredible! You listen to the directors' commentary during the deleted scenes and every time something funny happens they say they had to cut it out either because (1) it didn't fit the "tone" of the piece or (2) it didn't advance the story. I have news for them about the film as it was released: (1) the "tone" they achieved in the film was one of torpor, repetition, and boredom and (2) there is no story being advanced. The stuff they cut out wasn't brilliant--but it was at least SOMETHING. As it is, Pittsburg, the film, is as close to NOTHING as you can get.

When watching this movie, I kept clicking on the DVD menu to see if I was stuck in a "Making of this movie" extra on the disc. It soon becomes quite tiresome watching the "how to" rather than the "real" movie. It is certainly a shame that this film takes the avenue it does because the premise contains the promise of what could be an entertainingly funny experience. I suppose the acting is good, yet one cannot sit through it constantly anticipating the movie to begin. Laborious is the one word that describes this movie. We see nothing of the city of Pittsburgh. The movie's location could have been Needles CA for all the reference it gives its title. I admit that I fully expected to watch a movie that was entertaining in the way it portrayed the relationships involved when a well known Hollywood personality joined a cast of characters in a community theater production of a well known musical. The promise that the synopsis of this movie makes leaves one frustrated when the reality of the actual plot is realized. Save yourself some disappointment and skip this one.