Summer of love?

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh blurs the line between friendship and love

By Liz Schroeter
Published: April 16th, 2009 | 2:25pm

Fans of Michael Chabon’s 1988 novel may be surprised to find this film adaptation more Garden State than Gossip Girl. The book spends much time articulating the characters’ posturing as worldly adults while they are, in fact, merely confused and reckless college kids in Pittsburgh (hardly the upper east side, but still). Director and screenplay writer Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball, oddly) chose to boil down the book’s characters into five main players: Aimless college grad Art Bechstein (Jon Foster), Art’s neurotic fuck-buddy Phlox (Mena Suvari), beautiful blonde of Art’s desire Jane Bellwether (Sienna Miller), Jane’s biker boyfriend Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard), and Art’s gangster father (a grizzly Nick Nolte).

Thanks to an earnest approach, picturesque shots of rust belt Pittsburgh, and a heartwarming soundtrack including Iron and Wine, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh artfully captures the excitement and longing of that last summer of youth. House party? Check. Nighttime skinny-dipping? Check. Love triangle? Sure thing. Disapproving parent? Of course.

What sets this film apart from the others of its ilk is the sexual tension that permeates every relationship. Friendship seems to mean almost as much as love, and in fact crosses that line for more than a few characters.

Trying to prolong his last few months of relative freedom before joining the workforce in a career planned out for him by his father, Art takes a mindless job at a bargain book store where he starts carelessly hooking up with his supervisor, Phlox. But when it becomes clear that Phlox is as set on running Art’s life as his father, he takes refuge in a new friendship as the third wheel to Jane and Cleveland, a couple whose rollercoaster relationship seems to need the balance of a regular guy like Art. Until, of course, he upsets the balance completely.

Newcomer Foster is a bit of a wet blanket and not terribly convincing as an emotionally and sexually insecure college grad (nor is he as cheeky as the book’s Art). Thankfully Sarsgaard’s excellent portrayal of loose-cannon Cleveland makes up for it. He’s sexually ambiguous and prone to excess in drinking, gambling, and sex, but he’s also one big loveable teddy bear who is true to his friends. Mena Suvari is fantastic as Phlox, the one player who comes close to capturing the poseur character of the novel. She’s prissy and irrational and provides most of the movie’s comic relief. Art spends one night away from her and she bemoans the “change in his aura” crying dramatically, “I just feel so far away from you right now.” Perfectly overwrought.

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is an enjoyable addition to the summer of love category despite a few dull notes, which include an ending that is a bit too rushed and neatly tied with a bow for a movie whose title claims mystery. See it for Sarsgaard and Suvari and to wax nostalgic for those dewy, lazy days of your own waning youth.