dougiesantarosa This film pretty much mirrors my own experiences in Pittsburgh prior to leaving and only returning years later to bury mom. At a party, Art meets the attractive Jane, whose boyfriend, Cleveland, is both friendly and strange. These two mess with Art's mental state. Although Jane doesn't mean to, but Cleveland is a twisted manipulator. The first little "joke" Cleveland plays on Art should have sent Art running as far from Cleveland as he could get. But Art is pathological pushover.As with my own complications, the fractured relationship with the gangster father. Art's possessive girlfriend. Jane's ambivalence. Cleveland's weird manipulation and emotional, if not attempting a sexual menage a trois. Art, as I did, cannot see how Cleveland is using him to get out of a bad criminal situation - then the climactic ending arriving out of thin air involving Art as the summer ends as mine did on a very small world.

Thomas Engels I don't know if you ever saw Threesome, a humorous story about an atypical triangle relationship. It's certainly not a masterpiece, but it does what it does with panache. It's fun to watch the confusion and somehow it's believable that two boys and a girl all have a thing for each other.The Mysteries of Pittsburgh also touches on the dilemma of bisexuality and sharing the same lover. However, here the setup is so bland that it seems to (involuntarily, of course) echo the clichés of people who have issues with homosexuality, namely, gays are confused/immoral and have too much libido for their own good.The film lacks clarity. Especially the beginning is a messy collage that fails to properly introduce the main character. The confusion becomes greater when more side characters show up. Nobody seems to know what he or she is doing in this story. The actors caught on to this, because their performances are colourless. Considering the 18 karat cast, the director is to blame.I add Mysteries to the long list of movies that failed because the people who made it thought that going off the beaten track would be enough to make a good movie.

revsolly ...they bothered making this movie? Anyone? I didn't think so.If you are looking for a coming-of-age movie, go rent Summer of '42. This is no Summer of '42.When your big stars are Nolte & Sarsgaard, & Sarsgaard gets more screen time, that is your first warning sign And, of course, for such an "artsy" movie, there is plenty of cursing & skin flung around, just to make it look "artsy".Sarsgaard did his usual uninteresting, cardboard character, punctuated by moments that were supposed to be intense. The intensity is that of someone with bi-polar disorder.Miller is most famous for her looks & what she had to say about the city of Pittsburgh after this movie. Pittsburgh SHOULD hold a grudge against her. She misrepresented an actual Pittsburgh native.Foster gave Sarsgaard a run for his money in the cardboard acting style. Wow! Was this his first role after high school graduation?So, we have this weird triangle. Foster has a crush on Miller, but is with his boss/girlfriend. He can't take Miller to bed, & won't take his boss to bed. So, he hangs with Sarsgaard & Miller, & watches them get it on.Then, after one of Sarsgaard's pseudo-intense moments, Foster & Miller get it on, a scene that we are "treated" to in every sloppy, moaning detail. Finally, just to round it all out, Foster & Sarsgaard get it on, with Foster in the Miller role. Now I know how 2 guys get it on (as if that was ever anything I needed to know).After all that, all that's left is the tragic ending for one character & the retrospective views of the remaining 2. It gets me right in the pit of my stomach. Oh, wait! That was the pepperoni pizza I just had.I'd like back the time this movie took out of my life, please.

jotix100 Michael Chabon's 1988 novel " The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" was a novel about coming of age for a young man. The book is a fine account of a summer in the life of Art Bechstein, the son of a mobster who falls for Jane, a young woman, who is in love with another man. There is no doubt in our minds Rawson Marshall Thurber had the best intentions when he decided to adapt, then direct, this beloved work of many for the screen.The problem seems to be in the way Art comes out in the movie, where he also serves as the narrator as well. The way Mr. Thurber conceived his main character does not resonate with the viewer. It is never quite clear what did Jane and Cleveland see in this bland person to befriend and be part of a group; they are unevenly matched, to say the least.Cleveland is the most complex character in the novel. He is a bisexual man that is in the equation for the thrills he can get out of his situation with Jane. Art finds out soon enough what Cleveland is all about, but in the end he too is seduced by a guy that is a manipulator of the worse kind. It is also hard to believe, the way Cleveland is presented in the film he is the criminal he is supposed to be. Art, on the other hand, appears to be a closet homosexual, in spite of the sexual relationship he was having with Phlox, something that seems contrived and phony.Any film in which Peter Sarsgaard appears is worth a look. He is the most lively character in the picture. Mena Suvari shows up as a brunette with such a different look. It is hard to recognize her at first. Ms. Suvari is at her best in the film. Jon Foster is too bland to get anyone's attention. Nick Nolte plays Art's father. Sienna Miller, in spite of her looks, is an enigma in the movie.One thing that plays well is Theodore Shapiro's fine musical score. It gives the picture some class. Michael Barrett captures the spirit of the city, and its surrounding area in great images.