The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

Based on the novel by Michael Chabon, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is about the young son of a notorious gangster who spends his last teenage summer roaming around with two friends. The year is 1983, and young Art Bechstein (Jon Foster) is at a crossroads. Completely opposed to his father's lifestyle, Art plans to become a stockbroker. Visually contrived with painful attempts to create beautiful hip indie cinematography, the whole film feels like the director - whose previous effort Dodgeball was funny if outright commercial - is desperately seeking indie credibility by cobbling together aspects of other indie films but sprinkling it with stars like Mena Suvari, Sienna Miller and Nick Nolte. Like so many of the star-laden premieres at Sundance this year it felt like this was a secrety studio-sponsored vanity project to help the director earn some indie credibility points - it failed in that respect and as a film in its own right.

(2008) The Mysteries of Pittsburgh DRAMA

Co-written with the author Michael Chabon, and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber with Art Bechstein (Jon Foster) somewhat narrating his life beginning with having dinner with his gangster father, (Nick Nolte). Attempting to impress his father by getting through his studies, his personal life actually begins as soon as he is invited to a party and he becomes drawn to an inspired violinist, named Jane (Sienna Miller). Who she then draws Art into her personal life when she introduces him to her boyfriend, Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard). It is during then Art experiences life and relationships. I did not think it was much of a movie.

MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH is a truly 2009 "coming of age" story of three young people who meet in Pittsburgh and take a journey which will change their lives forever. The cast is superb; and I found Jon Foster's voice and performance refreshing inside a seasoned cast of Nick Nolte, Sienna Miller, "American Beauty's" Mena Suvari and the incredibly talented Peter Sarsgaard. Reviews have been mixed on the film, but I thought it took off in the second act, with humor of the challenges facing the characters, and the pathos of how "love" can take a turn when you least expect it. The dialog, at times witty and with a cynical barb to it, and the location of Pittsburgh, with its hills and older homes, adds to the story. I really liked this film, and once again, the cast is delicious to look at, and watch.

For those who find it difficult to appreciate the adaptation format of film making from a famous novel, THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH as now released on DVD should help explain the naysayers' opinions. In a very valuable session of conversations among Michael Chabon and Rawson Marshall Thurber (screenwriter and director) and the producer and cast, the transition of this complex novel into a very altered story is comfortably explained and the person most happy with the result seems to be the originator - Michael Chabon!

That being said this film stands well on its own terms. June and July in hot Pittsburgh generate mysteries among a variety of people, especially the young college graduate Art Bechstein (Jon Foster) who while working in a bookstore wastes time with a fling with the supervisor Phlox (Mena Suvari) with disinterested post grad classes dealing with becoming a broker and having monthly dinners with his mobster father Joe Bechstein (Nick Nolte), until he encounters an odd couple: bisexual biker and thief Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard) and his female consort, the violinist Jane Bellwether (Sienna Miller). The bizarre interactions among these characters drive Art to make many decisions and discoveries - including his falling in love with both Cleveland and Jane. The summer winds down with Art finally discovering his own identity despite the clouds of mystery that have surrounded his life. It is a piece of life as lived by disparate characters whose direction in life seems at odds with the natural flow of finding happiness and success. But then the question is asked - what is happiness and what is success if not survival?

For this viewer the explanation by the makers of this film was interesting enough to encourage a repeat watching of the movie. A good movie not a great movie, but it still tastes strongly of Michael Chabon's genius. It deserves more attention than the critics have given it.....Grady Harp

This was a beautiful but ultimately confusing film.

There is an impressive cast of photogenic and talented actors, but the editing seems to have left parts of the story, which would explain its progression, out.

As a result, the story of the 'last' summer for the character played by Foster, it is only partly believable, and the poignancy that one can sense was aimed at, is missed.

There is good acting by the main actors, but the lines provided and the editing leave a lot to be desired.

It is worth seeing, but ultimately leads to a mix of emotions at the end, and not ones intended by the director.