Review of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2008) by Cian S — 11 Mar 2008

A travesty for anyone who loved the book.

The only thing good to be said about this film is in reference to the cast. I did believe this cast as the characters. Phlox isn't how I imagined her to be but Mena Suvari does a relatively good job of it, even if the character has been adapted entirely incorrectly.

The performances are good, the casting right in general, the script is relatively tight but so drained of any passion and over-egged in terms of meaning that it's worthless, while a voiceover is often a death knell to originality especially in an adaptation.

But I have to say the one thing that annoyed me most about this film is that even though it's extremely faithful to the book in some respects - usually in very pragmatic and methodical ways, it totally rips out the heart and soul of the book and proceeds to ignore it. The book had a great impression on me at the time I read it. Its approach to sexuality and art and life in college during the 80s seemed so exactingly accurate, full of possibility and life lessons. It was really quick and raw and anything seemed possible to the characters despite their relatively conservative surroundings. I found this so exciting when reading the book but none of it is in the film. It almost entirely ignores any form of sexuality other than heterosexuality (apart from a couple of brief references) and this element seemed so powerful to me in the book. I would go so far as to say the film portrays a certain level of homophobia in its adaptation if it weren't for the fact that they conveniently throw a reference to it here or there. It equally ignores the art world which is so prevalent in the book also. In fact, much of the activity of the characters in the book exists between these two worlds of sex and art and this film says absolutely nothing valuable about either.

If you loved the book, avoid like the plague.