Art (Jon Foster) works at the Book Barn by choice as he studies for his exams. His dad (Nick Nolte) is a crime boss who has a job lined up for Art who lacks assertiveness. Phlox (Mena Suvari) is his boss and sex partner at the Book Barn. He meets Jane (Sienna Miller) at a party and they hit it off. She is athletic, sexy, charming, talented, and drinks to excess. She also has a boyfriend, Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard) "like the state" who we soon find out is bisexual. The three of them start hanging out together.

The first thing you notice is the annoying narration by Art because they couldn't make a decent screen adaptation. The characters of Art and his dad were poorly constructed. When they got together, you just wished the scene would be over. Jane is an interesting character who we never got to know, and Cleveland is a character we perhaps learned too much about. This is a story of Art trying to find himself one summer in Pittsburgh. For hard core indie lovers and clearly not my cup of tea, but an offering that might go good with "Milk".

F-bomb, sex (straight and gay),and nudity (Mena Suvari).

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.

Young man with a gangster for a father is studying for the exams to become a stock broker. He doesn't really want to go in that direction but that's the direction that his father has picked out for him (he's arranged a job for him once he finishes). Desperate to have his own life he has taken a dead end job at a local book supermarket just to have time for himself before his life stops being his own. After almost being run over by his college roommate he ends up at a party where he ends up meeting a beautiful blonde, who along with her boyfriend ends up changing his life.

This is a well acted, except by Nick Nolte, story based on a book by Michael Chabon. Its much better than its soiled reputation would indicate. The film is infamous for being the film Sienna Miller took simply to get away from the paparazzi, she got into even more trouble by bashing Pittsburgh in several off handed comments. It was then barely released to theaters before being dumped on to DVD. This is a good little film. I liked it. My only real complaint outside of Nick Nolte's performance (it just doesn't work here) is that the film is trying way too hard to be quirky. Its not bad, but there are these small turns and asides (Joe Namath's picture during a sex scene) that didn't really need to be there. I'm sure they were in the novel, but at the same time in the real world of the film they come across as out of place. Worth a look, probably on cable.