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Movies / On DVD / The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

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The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2009)

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Reviews Counted:38

Fresh:4

Rotten:34

Average Rating:3.9/10

Consensus: A listless interpretation of Michael Chabon's first novel, Mysteries of Pittsburgh features none of the source material's charm, but has coming-of-age film cliches in abundance.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Apr 10, 2009 Limited

Box Office: $32,783

Synopsis: Adapting a subtle, treasured novel is no enviable task. Yet it's that admittedly mammoth undertaking that is at the core of the success or failure of THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH, director Rawson... Adapting a subtle, treasured novel is no enviable task. Yet it's that admittedly mammoth undertaking that is at the core of the success or failure of THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH, director Rawson Marshall Thurber's film version of Michael Chabon's debut novel. As a book, MYSTERIES masterfully builds upon the rich tradition of coming-of-age novels through a combination of unique characters, a simple yet intriguing plot, and a quiet celebration of the hidden delights (the "mysteries," if you will) of a small city. Thurber, who also wrote the screenplay, takes huge liberties in reworking the source material--the story of Art Bechstein (Jon Foster), the son of a known gangster, and his conflicting love for two of his bohemian friends (one a woman, the other a man) in the summer following his college graduation--and in the process creates a film that is a mere shadow of the novel on which it was based. Working with a varied cast of novice and more experienced actors (Sienna Miller, Mena Suvan, Nick Nolte, Peter Sarsgaard), Thurber does his best to recreate the melancholic wonder of falling in love, grappling with the expectations of family, and adjusting to one's adult skin, yet Chabon's novel is perhaps too nuanced to lend itself to an easy big-screen transition. That's not to say that Thurber's effort is not gallant and in its own way charming; rather, film is film, literature is literature, and, more often than not, never the twain shall meet. [More]

Starring: Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sienna Miller, Nick Nolte

Starring: Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sienna Miller, Nick Nolte, Mena Suvari

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Producer: Michael London, Jason Mercer
Composer: Theodore Shapiro
Studio: Peace Arch Entertainment

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Release:

Aug 4, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish
 
 
 
 

Reviews for The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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A mess of a movie, looking to contort Chabon's novel into a darkly personal story of choice and desire. Instead the film sloppily lumbers around in search of a consistent dramatic path. It's handsome enough, just wildly misguided from frame one.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
08/26/09
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
DVDTalk.com

The fact is, some novels don't translate well to the screen.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
08/11/09
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Guts the book of complexity and ambiguity and reduces it to another trite coming-of-age story with a badly written voice-over narrative by a boring post-adolescent.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

Michael Barrett's cinematography gives the film and the city of Pittsburgh just enough of a picturesque dream-like quality that, like its protagonist, you'll remember.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
04/17/09
Rob Lowman
Rob Lowman
Los Angeles Daily News

[Art] is as passive as Benjamin Button minus the freak-of-nature excuse.

Full Review Source: Washington City Paper | comment Comment
04/16/09
Tricia Olszewski
Tricia Olszewski
Washington City Paper

Shoddy and never credible, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is an ungainly coming-of-age drama based on a (hopefully much better) novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
04/16/09
Tom Keogh
Tom Keogh
Seattle Times

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh seems to be missing an essential element of drama, of risk, underneath its glossy, golden sheen.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/16/09
Dan Zak
Dan Zak
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Somehow, even as writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber slathers on the voiceover ooze or unwittingly evokes Sophie’s Choice with his central romantic triangle, he still manages to astonish with The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
04/15/09
Mark Peikert
Mark Peikert
New York Press

The movie is all over the place and it loses its focus.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
04/13/09
Ben Lyons
Ben Lyons
At the Movies
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I can’t imagine the novel’s characters were this flat, formulaic and puzzling in their behavior.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
04/13/09
Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz
At the Movies
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sarsgaard revels in a character who attracts all eyes and mouths, but the narration is too much of an explanatory crutch to parse the roundelay of identity exploration.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
04/11/09
Nora Lee Mandel
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

The real mystery about The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is how writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber could turn Michael Chabon's delightful debut novel into such a bore.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
04/10/09
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Here's the big mystery of Pittsburgh: How did this movie manage to be so completely terrible?

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment Comment
04/10/09
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

When characters say things like "It’s gonna be a great summer," or call someone "Old sport" and act oh-so-beautifully doomed, it’s time to call the cliché police.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/10/09
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A misguided head-spinner of conflicting tones, listless lead performances and dashed expectations.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
04/10/09
Kevin Williamson
Kevin Williamson
Jam! Movies

When a director has an overinflated conception of the adapted book, we stand a pretty good chance of being really underwhelmed by the completed movie.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/10/09
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The charm and drily pointed cultural observations that made Chabon's 1988 debut so auspicious are largely missing in action throughout this earnest but unconvincing film.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
04/10/09
David Wiegand
David Wiegand
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sarsgaard is the only interesting element, but he doesn't make the movie worth seeing.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
04/10/09
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

A clumsy and confused adaptation of Michael Chabon’s 1988 novel.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
04/10/09
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even Chabon fans should avoid this.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
04/10/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
 
 
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