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Mysteries Of Pittsburgh (The)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Peace Arch Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andreas Petersen (24th September 2009). |
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The Film
 "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" was a movie that I had never heard of, based on a book I had never heard of. Going off the cover of the Blu-ray case, the cast, and the tagline (“Sometimes life leads you to the most mysterious places”), I can’t say I was entirely excited to watch this movie. I assumed that this would just be some other indie drama that did nothing for me, like some other Phase 4 Films I have watched. That being said, my assumptions were right. I can’t express enough that I hate it when people trash a movie, or solidify their opinion, before they even see it. This is why I always try to see every movie with the most open minds. Doing this, you can sometimes be immensely surprised at how good a movie is that you thought was going to be a stinker. And for the first few minutes of this film, I thought that this was going to be the case. The film opens up with some sort of dream-sequence of protagonist Art (Jon Foster). When he snaps out of it, he’s having dinner with his father (Nick Nolte). The scene, to me, is well acted and written. I was getting ready to sit back and relax, taking in what I thought was going to be a surprise hit with me. But then the next 90 minutes of the film happened. The movie quickly evaporates into your very stereotypical indie film in which the protagonist is just too wise to deal with his surroundings (accompanied by snaky narration), and feels tasked to have sex with his attractive boss (Mena Suvari), and deal with his old college friends. He proceeds to do drugs and party, and it all leads to him meeting a beautiful girl at a party, Jane (Sienna Miller), who he falls head over heels for upon first sight. Too bad for Art, she has a boyfriend named Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard), whom Art is an acquaintance of. Cleveland and Art become friends, as Cleveland promises him a really fun time while he’s back in town. Hmm, THAT sounds familiar. As the plot develops, it becomes increasingly obvious that Art is getting close to Cleveland because of his infatuation with Jane. The three hang out frequently, and all three of their relationships are tested, and so on and so forth. Then the movie throws a curveball that comes out of no where. Now, this isn’t the good kind of curveball, where if you trace it’s path backwards, you can see where it came from, but instead the sort of twist in a movie that leaves you dumbfounded, and leads to one of the most inappropriately hilarious sex scenes I have seen in a drama in recent years. While the acting, story, and writing didn’t do anything for me, the movies wasn’t a complete bust, because there was plenty to dig in terms of the directing. Writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber sets up some interesting shots, and the color scheme of the film matches the desolate mood of inner city Pittsburgh, a place where the characters are supposed to feel trapped. In the end, "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" has a very typical storyline (all but one part at least), the comes off as another film to come off the same factory line that produced "Garden State" (2004), "Juno" (2007), "Explicit Ills" (2008), and other indie films. If those movie are your cup of tea, then you may enjoy this film, but if you’re likeminded with me, I suggest to skip this one.
Video
"The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" is presented in an HD 1080p 24/fps 2.40:1 aspect ratio transfer mastered in AVC MPEG-4 compression, and there is very little to complain about in this department. The video is clear through the entirety of the film, and lacked any sort of scene with noticeable noise or blemishes. All the colors look very crisp, and I was really pleasantly surprised how good this disc looked. I initially didn’t think this after viewing the film, due to my opinion of it, but I may go as far as saying that this is one of the better looking independent film Blu_rays I have seen.
Audio
"The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" is offered in an English or French Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound audio track, with optional English and Spanish subtitles. Much like the video portion of the disc, I was surprised at how clear the audio was. I’m not saying the sound was amazing, but considering that this movie is a non HD Master audio track, it packs a pretty decent punch. There are scenes in which phones ringing or cars revving would rattle my speakers in just the right way.
Extras
"The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" comes with two featurrettes and some trailers, all of which are detailed below: First up is "Behind-the-Scenes of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" featurette, which runs for 5 minutes and 28 seconds. This is a raw footage look at some scenes of the film which are quickly juxtaposed against the finished product in the film, sort of a before-and-after type of thing. I actually found this extra pretty interesting, and think it offers legitimate insight into the going-ons of a film production. This was refreshing to view in place of some self congratulatory schmultz. Next is “Based Upon the Novel by Michael Chabon” featurette, which runs for 10 minutes and 4 seconds. Here, cast and crew are interviewed, expressing how the novel in which the film is based on affected them upon first reading it. I got the impression that Thurber had a legitimate passion for the project, claiming he wanted to make it into a movie before he even thought about making movies. Also, author Michael Chabon is interviewed, and he expresses his sentiment to not hold the filmmakers to the text too strictly, allowing them a large amount of artistic freedom. Overall, this featurette charmed me into not thinking too ill of the movie, beyond the fact that I just didn’t like it very much. Also included is a theatrical trailer for the film, which runs for 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Lastly, the film includes a few bonus trailers, and they are for: - "Explicit Ills" which runs for 2 minutes. - "JCVD" which runs for 2 minutes and 23 seconds. - "What We Do Is Secret" which runs for 1 minutes and 19 seconds. - "The Go-Getter" which runs for 2 minutes and 33 seconds.
Overall
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