Pittsburgh (2006)

Jeff Goldblum put his Hollywood actor life on hold to star alongside his new girlfriend in a Pittsburgh regional theater production of The Music Man. Co-directors Bradley and LaBrache tread... See full summary »

Directors:

Chris Bradley, Kyle LaBrache

Stars:

Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley Jr., Illeana Douglas

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Goldblum	...	Himself / 'The Music Man' Cast
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Himself / 'The Music Man' Cast
Illeana Douglas	...	Herself / 'The Music Man' Cast
Moby	...	Himself
Catherine Wreford	...	Herself / 'The Music Man' Cast
Conan O'Brien	...	Himself
Craig Kilborn	...	Himself
Richard Sabellico	...	Himself
Mark Esposito	...	Himself
Harvey Tyson	...	Himself
Shirley Tyson	...	Herself
Keith Addis	...	Himself
Skip E. Lowe	...	Himself
Ashley Judd	...	Herself
Alanis Morissette	...	Herself (as Alanis Morrisette)

Storyline

Jeff Goldblum put his Hollywood actor life on hold to star alongside his new girlfriend in a Pittsburgh regional theater production of The Music Man. Co-directors Bradley and LaBrache tread a surprisingly elegant line between genuine documentary and outright self-parody improv in this deliciously deadpan comedy

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Plot Keywords:

place name in title | solar power | solar energy | performance | mockumentary | 

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Taglines:

Leaving Hollywood Isn't As Easy As You Think

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Untitled Jeff Goldblum Project

Filming Locations:

Kennywood Amusement Park - 4800 Kennywood Boulevard, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

ROAR, Prosperity Pictures, Striking Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References The Fly (1986)

User Reviews

I have an idea--let's make a mockumentary and cut out all the funny stuff! BRILLIANT!

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.