Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Life of Pi - Movie Review


Starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall and Gerard Depardieu.  Directed by Ang Lee.

★★★

One poster advertises it as a new Avatar, which I believe was a quote from Time magazine.  Well, it's visually impressive, but it's also one where I didn't see why it was in 3D.  I wasn't aware of it most of the time.  What we have here is a slightly more satisfying Cast Away.

We get the story of Pi Patel, told in flashback by his older self (Irrfan Khan).  Young Pi's father owns a zoo, but they're running out of money, and he learns he'll be able to make a lot more in Canada.  The family must move.  But as they sail the Pacific, a storm hits and the ship sinks.  Pi manages to get on a lifeboat, and he's accompanied by a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a tiger named Richard Parker.

Most of the movie takes place on the open ocean, with just Pi and (food-chain spoilers) the tiger.  The tiger turns into his Wilson, albeit Wilson wasn't trying to eat Tom Hanks the whole time.

My main issue with the movie is that when adult Pi starts telling his story, he says it will demonstrate proof there is a God.  And when I got to the end, and I thought about it, I still didn't see why that experience strengthened his belief in God.  Maybe the book highlights it better.

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