The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a coming-of-age story set in the faded glory of early 1980's era Pittsburgh, based on the novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.

The story opens with Art Bechstein (Jon Foster) floundering in his new-found post-college freedom, opting to take the job with the least amount of responsibility he can find (at the appropriately titled Book Barn), while sleep walking through the Series Seven prep courses that will speed him into a job chosen for him by his father (Nick Nolte), far away from the security of his childhood Pittsburgh. Art’s fortunes begin to change when a chance encounter with freshman roommate and part-time drug dealer Mohammed (Omid Abtahi) lands him at a swanky summer party where he falls for the beautifully tipsy Jane Bellweather (Sienna Miller). The two quickly connect over a late-night plate of pie, but Jane’s on-again off-again boyfriend Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard) has other plans for the pair. Taking Art hostage from the dreary Book Barn, Cleveland threatens to throw Art off the top of an abandoned steel mill, a hide-out that Cleveland romantically calls “The Cloud Factory.” Suspended high above Pittsburgh, Art realizes that his summer has finally begun, what would become the last true summer of his life.

The film captures the adventures and emotional explorations of three young people trying to find their way in a shifting world: recent college graduate Art Bechstein (Jon Foster from The Door in the Floor and the forth-coming Tenderness with Russell Crowe) tries to break free from his stern father and his web of gangland connections. Cleveland Arning (Peter Sarsgaard from Jarhead, Rendition and Boys Don't Cry) is the small-time street hood with seductive delusions of grandeur. Jane Bellweather (Sienna Miller from Alfie, Layer Cake, and Factory Girl) is the alcoholic beauty who simultaneously brings them together and tears them apart. The cast is rounded out by Art's boss and part-time girlfriend Phlox (Mena Suvari from American Beauty), and is anchored by a riveting Nick Nolte who plays Art’s iron-willed father Joe the Egg Bechstein.

The film has been a ten-year obsession for director Rawson Marshall (Dodgeball) who also adapted the novel for the screen.