'I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.'

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2013)

As is obvious from the number of rave reviews this film LIFE OF PI was are sounding success in the theaters when it was shown in 3D. There is no question but that the story, so well known over the past decades since the publication of the book of the same name by Yann Martel, draws everybody in, whether because of the indomitable spirit of our surviving hero or the religious aspects of the story. Perhaps because of all the hoopla about director Ang Lee's manipulation of CGI effects and the endless interviews about the making of the film that make the final product (on DVD at least) seem so contrived and unreal that some viewers will find the end product less than satisfying a version of the novel. David Magee sculpted the screenplay from the novel and while that provides a lot of background about the character of Pi before the main event of the lost at see episode, it does seem disruptive at times and in this viewer's response robs the story form some of the poetry.
The story has been summarized elsewhere as follows: 'In Canada, a writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell a story. Pi tells the story of his life since he was a kid in Pondicherry, India and the origin of his nickname. One day, his father who owns a zoo tells his family that his business is not good and he had decided to move to Canada and sell part of the animals in the United States. They travel in a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm followed by a shipwrecking. Pi survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, a orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. They are adrift in the Pacific Ocean and when the tiger is hungry, he eats the other animals. Soon Pi learns that he might find a way to feed and domesticate the tiger to survive.
The character of Pi Patel is played for the most part by Suraj Sharma while his earlier years embodiments are shared by Ayush Tandon and Gautam Belur and the adult storyteller by Irrfan Khan. Pi's parents are played by Adil Hussain and Gita Patel and his brother Ravi by, depending on age, Ayan Khan, Mohd Abbas Khaleeli, and Vibish Sivakumar, Rafe Spall is the writer who will create the book from Pi's story, and for a few brief moments Gérard Depardieu plays a Cook on the ship.
There are some very beautiful scenes of skies and waterscapes, but we are left wondering how much of this is carton created in the large studio tank that serves as the ocean. Some of Martell's original explanation of the various religions Pi adheres to are retained: they were the best part of the novel. Perhaps in 3D this film would have worked better.
Grady Harp