I was a huge Jay McInerney slash Brett Easton Ellis fan in high school and college. But the like-minded debut novel by Michael Chabon was the first book in my life that I actually stopped reading a few chapters into it. (I don't remember specifically why, but I just couldn't tolerate it.) Since then, I've been led to believe that I missed out on something. Then came word of the long-in-the-works film adaptation, which my friend Frank -- a huge fan of the book -- told me had completely removed the gay aspect of the story and caused him to start a boycott against its very existence. So I haven't read the book and I've heard what my friend has to say. Now I see the trailer and it sure looks like a bisexual love triangle to me. Am I (once again) missing something?(Hat tip: Towleroad)
3 comments:
It is one of my favorite books by one of my favorite writers... I can't believe that they got the movie wrong. I will boycott for sure!
Really sad, because they got the movie of Chabon's WONDERBOYS so right...one of the best book to movie adaptations ever!
While the preview suggests a slightly bi curious storyline, this film entirely removes the character who is gay and was the bisexual part of the story from the book. The Peter Sarsgaard character, Cleveland, is not a love interest of Art's (main character) in the book. He's just a "bad boy" buddy he hangs out with over the summer.
It's a decent book Kenneth, I do recommend you giving it another try-- if you like a college/coming of age story.
Thanks again, KW, for mentioning my MOP Film Boycott... Though I don't believe I ever said the gay aspect had been completley removed--only that the gay character of Arthur Lecomte (my fave) had been cut in favor of turning Cleveland bi.
Since you're not a fan of the book, the changes for the film may not bother you, or others who haven't read it. In fact, I've read the screenplay, and it's not half-bad. I'd probably go and see this film were it not called THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH.
What gets me is the fact that writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber claims he's a longtime MOP fan, yet what fan would alter this story to this extent?
Without Arthur Lecomte, there are NO "mysteries" for Art Bechstein to discover in Pittsburgh. In the book, it's Arthur who introduces Art to Phlox (Mena Suvari), Jane (Sienna Miller), and Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard). In the movie, these events all happen randomly--as does almost everything else.
Thurber has said that a love triangle makes for a better story on film--and I agree. But he already had one with Art/Arthur/Phlox...Why did he need to drag Jane and Cleveland into the mix?
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