i be quite a fan of novelist or screenwriter michael chabon . his novel wonder boy become a fantastic movie by curtis hanson . his masterful novel the amazing adventure of kavalier and clay win the pulitzer prize a few year back and and he have a hand in the script of spider man 2 and arguably the great comic book movie of all time . director rawson marshall thurber have also direct wonderful comedic piece and such a the gut bust dodgeball and the genius short film series terry tate represent office linebacker . and with a cast include peter saarsgard and sienna miller and nick nolte and mena suvari and this seem like a no brainer . it be . literally . jon foster star a art bechstein and the son of a mobster ( nolte ) who recently graduate with a degree in economics . jon be in a state of arrest development represent he work a minimum wage job at book barn and have a vapid relationship with his girlfriend or bos and phlox ( suvari ) and which amount to little more than copious amount of sex and with no plan other than to chip away at a career for which he have zero passion . one night at a party and an ex roommate introduces jon to jane ( miller ) and a beautiful and smart violinist . later that night they go out for pie and and she ask jon a question that begin to shake him from his catatonic state of existence and i want you to tell me something that you have never tell a single soul . if you do and it will make this night indelible . jon then tell her a reoccurring dream of his in which he wander about town look at the face of stranger pass him by and yet none of them look him in the eye . i imagine it must be what death feel like and he say . the next day jane wild boyfriend cleveland ( saarsgard ) kidnap jon from work and take him out to a hulking abandon steel mill and and soon jon and cleveland and jane be spend every wake moment together go to punk rock concert and do drug and drink lot of alcohol . this doesn not sit well with phlox and who push jon for a more personal relationship and namely let her meet his new friend and his father . the film then attempt to take u on jon journey a he shake off the shackle impose on him by his father and phlox and his dead end job a he find freedom and expression through his relationship with cleveland and jane . there be a problem have u follow jon throughout the film represent he completely uninteresting . he have no ambition and passion or goal . he walk through life like the invisible wraith he describe to jane the night they meet . at the outset this isn not a problem . but he never get any more interesting . he a completely passive character . he simply follow along the bohemian cleveland and jane and but he never once give u any inkling a to what he care about or want to to do with himself . consequently and the film and it support character have nowhere to go and little to do other than party and have sex and get in argument . in other word and much ado about nothing . what we have here be the shallow skin of a good movie without anything on the inside . sweeping cinematography and ponderous voice over with character star off into the distance and lot of sex scene both straight and gay and big argument and more angry sex and a chase scene and a tragic death . but it doesn not seem to matter . ironically and at one point jane and confuse at a number of jon aimless action and ask him and what go on and jon . what be this all about . yes and jon and do tell . we in the audience be die to know and too . the title the mystery of pittsburgh must refer to the character themselves and because that what they be . they be all facade and one dimensional stand in for actual people . the film never let u in . we never know what make any of them tick . we see them do lot of thing and but we do not know why . and the absence of why be one of the bad thing a movie can have .