Whoever thought that Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon and writer/director of “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” Rawson Marshall Thurber would team up for a film adaptation? Anyone familiar with Chabon’s literary achievements and the antics of Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in Thurber’s 2004 comedy knows this looks like a bigger mismatch than North Carolina and Michigan State in last Monday’s NCAA title game.
But, somehow, it works and the director’s sophomore film, an adaptation of Chabon’s rookie 1988 novel, “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” is a decent attempt to adapt a complex story for the silver screen.
Thurber, as it turns out, has filmmaking skills that expand far beyond the balls being thrown in his first film, and continues to prove that he is deserving of a coveted spot within the Hollywood filmmaking crowd.
Interestingly, instead of parlaying his success by making another broad comedy, Thurber took on a novel he had wanted to flip into a movie when he first read it in college almost 15 years ago. He mentions this in a recent article he wrote for www.moviemaker.com.
In the article, Thurber also reveals how after “Dodgeball” there was a surplus of offers coming in from movie studios, but that “after finishing my first film, I knew fully how hard it was to make one … to see it through to the end, to be its custodian, its guardian and its champion. There was really only one story I loved like that.” The story he speaks of being Chabon’s “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” which is currently in theaters.
Jon Foster takes on the lead role of Art Bechstein and creates a character that has you rooting for his success, as well as questioning his methods and motives for getting it.
Sienna Miller makes everyone forget her controversial 2006 remark about the title city being “S***sburgh” with her beautiful performance as Jane Bellwether, the mysterious woman who takes Bechstein on a series of summer adventures.
OK, maybe not everyone forgot about the “S***sburgh” reference. Did she really think that was a smart move? Doesn’t she have a pubic relations manager helping her avoid such faux pas? Moving on …
Actor Peter Sarsgaard, who’s remembered for his roles in “Kinsey,” “Shattered Glass” and as Zach Braff’s slacker best friend Mark in “Garden State,” Sarsgaard aptly takes on the sarcastic, know-it-all personality again with the character Cleveland Arning in this film. Cleveland adds comedic depth as an amoral, mob errand guy who gets Bechstein in and out of trouble.
The story itself goes on multiple rabbit trails that seems best suited for the original reading material it was intended as, but Thurber does a reasonable job connecting the dots of the multiple story arcs within the film.
The film also features Nick Nolte as Bechstein’s mobster father and Mena Suvari as his nymphomaniac boss. Coupled with the rest of the starstudded team, these characters pull off an entertaining tale of what it’s like the summer after college, when you’re struggling to figure out your life.
Like the similarly themed, yet more indie “Adventureland,” “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” gives the audience a familiar story about post-college life. Bechstein is relatable to those who are graduating soon, as he is desperately trying to find out exactly what it is he’s supposed to be doing and how he’s supposed to get there.
On that level, it’s an entertaining ride at the theater, but the time may be better suited simply picking up one of Chabon’s novels.
