The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2008)

Based on Michael Chabon's novel, the film chronicles the defining summer of a recent college graduate who crosses his gangster father and explores love, sexuality, and the enigmas surrounding his life and his city.

Director:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Writers:

Rawson Marshall Thurber (screenplay), Michael Chabon (novel)

Stars:

Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sienna Miller

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Foster	...	Art Bechstein
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Cleveland Arning
Sienna Miller	...	Jane Bellwether
Nick Nolte	...	Joe Bechstein
Mena Suvari	...	Phlox Lombardi
Omid Abtahi	...	Mohammed
Keith Michael Gregory	...	Keith
Ali Reed	...	Female Book Barn Employee
James A. Harper	...	Teen Book Barn Employee
Don Wadsworth	...	Class Instructor
Christian Hand	...	Punk Rock Bathroom Patron
Jarid Faubel	...	Mohawk Man (as Jarid C. Faubel)
Tim Hartman	...	Restaurant Manager
Shannon Williams	...	Lurch
Seth Adams	...	Feldman

Storyline

Pittsburgh, coming of age in the 1980s. At the beginning of June, Art Beckstein calls this the last summer of his life - after which he'll work as a stock broker. Art's father is the city's mob boss, steering Art's life, judging his choices. At a party, Art sees Jane, smart, blond, lovely. They meet; she has a boyfriend. The next day, Cleveland, the boyfriend, pulls Art from work and the summer of adventures begins. Cleveland lives close to the edge; he's explosive, with hints of problems with local thugs. The triangle of friendship gets complicated when Cleveland disappears for a couple weeks. Can Art sort out his feelings as well as help Cleveland? Where does his father fit in this?

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Plot Keywords:

scantily clad female | gangster | sex scene | blonde | voyeur | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes life leads you to the most mysterious places.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actress Sienna Miller also worked with Mena Suvari in the movie Factory Girl (2006).

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Goofs

When Art and Phlox are fighting after his first meeting with Cleveland, she says that it is past midnight. But when Art puts his hand to his face, you can see his watch is showing 8:15 as the time.

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Quotes

Jane Bellwether: And what does he do? What does your father do?
Art Bechstein: He manipulates Swiss bank accounts with money that comes from numbers, whores, protection, and cigarette smuggling.
Jane Bellwether: Really?
Art Bechstein: No, he's in finance.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Miss March/Race to Witch Mountain/Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

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Soundtracks

We Can Never Be the Same
Written by Anthony Plourd, Art Ruiz, Turtle Michael Sanders, Peter Mallinger and Christian James Hand
Performed by JD Romance
Courtesy of JD Romance

User Reviews

Honest depiction of using another to expiate your sins

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site - 2009 Version

Country:

USA Bahrain

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

Filming Locations:

Mount Washington, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,572, 12 April 2009

Gross USA:

$80,283

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$80,283

Company Credits

Production Co:

Groundswell Productions, Sherazade Film Development, Visitor Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1