Life of Pi

Life of Pi
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Ang Lee [IMDB]

This is the last in the crop of 2012's Oscar contenders that I've yet to see. I really wanted to check this out before I made my Best of 2012 list, but time is money and I'm broke.

Synopsis: A young boy named Pi gets stranded at sea with a bangle tiger and hilarity ensues.

Life of Pi is a wonderful film and probably would have secured a spot in my Top Ten... I don't know if it's kosher to go back and edit a list once it's been posted... but I should. Ang Lee is hit or miss for me, but he hit a big home run here. The visuals in Life of Pi are amazing, this is a must have on blu-ray when it comes out. I thought the CG tiger would bother me but it doesn't deter from the experience at all. The story of Pi is an interesting one and where the film leaves you at the end worked well for me. It's a mysterious film and one that could definitely benefit from a re-watch or two.

Spoiler time... I feel it is necessary to talk spoilers here because of the subtext of the film so....

SPOILERS! The religious beliefs of Pi were interesting. He picked pieces out of each religion that he liked and choose to believe what he wanted. Ang Lee leaves the viewer doing the same thing at the end of Life of Pi. You're left with two stories to believe in, which one is right? Or... are they both wrong? Or... were they really intertwined? Who knows... and I think that may be the point. It doesn't really matter which one is right, it's up to you to believe what you want since no one was there to witness what really happened. They spend most of your time with the story involving the animals because it makes for a better film, so I think you want to believe that's the real outcome... but at the end of it there's still this shadow of a doubt. I think that's a cool idea that hasn't been explored in any film the way Life of Pi does. 

I would absolutely recommend you check out this film.