Plot:
Pi Patel, a young boy who survives a disaster at sea, is forced to survive in a small boat with the only company being a hungry, wild bengal tiger.
My Thoughts:
I'm going to try to be systematic in this review, with each paragraph covering a major area of filmmaking and how well it was done in Life of Pi. First and foremost is the script/story. The Life of Pi is a fictional tale, but it doesn't feel like one at all. The story is gripping, and plot holes are non-existent. I couldn't help but wish for a little more action whilst Pi Patel was on the lifeboat, but the energy between Pi and the tiger was plenty enough to keep the story afloat, (<--see what I did there:) And just a side-note, there is a lovely plot twist at the end that will have you and your friends debating the ending for quite some time.
Acting was great with previously unknown lead actor Suraj Sharma dominating most of the screen time alongside the bengal tiger (named Richard Parker). Sharma was no Tom Hanks from Cast Away, but he definitely held his own in a promising debut performance. Irrfan Khan, playing the adult Pi Patel, was my favorite performance of the movie. He has an absolutely incredible one-liner near the end of the film that has to be my favorite line I've heard in 2012, (barely taking the title away from the the "limitless ocean" line in Cloud Atlas, spoken by Jim Sturgess.)
Khan's one-liner pertained to the main theme of the story, religion. What was interesting about the Life of Pi story was that instead of debating the overdone Hollywood theme of, "Is there a God?", it simply accepted that there was a God, and then asked the question, "which story of God is the real one?" I really, really enjoyed the uniqueness of this theme, and I thought it was incredibly well done. However, Pi falters when it dabbles in other themes that were obvious to a survival story, such as the power of starvation and relationships. It was a little unnecessary, and I would much rather have them focus in on just that one theme of religion. All the same, I was overall satisfied with the way they handled the themes in the film.
I don't think I need to say anything about the cinematic experience, but gosh I can't help myself. Wow, was it spectacular. It's the reason this film was made, it's the focus, and its beautiful. It's not even, how you say "Artsy." It's not just the cinema geeks that can appreciate it; everyone can love the beauty of this film. It shows you earth at it's most magnificent, and I can almost hear Ang Lee saying through the cinema, "Look at what you're missing when you busily go through your lives. Look at the beauty this world has to offer." It's so mesmerizing, and totally worth the theater ticket just for the cinematic experience. One shot, when Pi is under water watching a boat sink to the depths, brought tears to my eyes.
Life of Pi is a fantastic film. There was no one area where it failed to inspire. I had a few minor issues with the film in different aspects; with the two biggest being the lack of engaging action while on the lifeboat, and the choice to not focus on just the religion theme. There are many stories that can pull off multiple themes, but for Life of Pi, which is very linear, is stretches the story a bit thin. However, the minor details do not diminish from the story too much, and once again, the focus here is not the story; it is the beautiful world in which the story is told.
Rating: 8.5/10
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