The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

Something of a misfire, this adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon's debut novel stars Jon Foster as recent college grad Art Bechstein, currently working in a bookstore while trying to find his place in the world. Although manager Phlox (Mena Suvari) is also his no-strings-attached sex partner, Art is drawn to blond cellist Jane Bellwether (Sienna Miller), who's involved with a small-time crook named Michigan (Peter Sarsgaard)—a relationship that blossoms into a ménage a trois built on drink, drugs, and sex. The directionless Art becomes easily manipulated by Michigan, who happens to have ties to the grad's big-time mobster father (Nick Nolte), eventually triggering a final act Big Caper, which is used rather perfunctorily by writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber to wrap up a story that deserved a better ending. Withdrawn and almost painfully inarticulate, Art makes for a weak protagonist (especially as played by Foster), while the talented Sarsgaard as seductive screwball Michigan all but walks off with the film. An over-earnest adaptation (with wordy narration that is largely superfluous since it describes what we're seeing onscreen), The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is ultimately a curiously flat movie. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a 10-minute “Based Upon the Novel by Michael Chabon” featurette, a six-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, and trailers. Exclusive to the DVD release is a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing film.] (E. Hulse)