A great idea poorly executed

Rating: 2/10 (3 August 2002)

I'm very surprised to learn so many people enjoyed this movie. I was told to rent it because of similar ideas I penned myself. The idea of a mathematician seeking the holy grail of trading is interesting. The idea of a mathematical code to the Torah is very interesting. That's the extent of my excitement with this movie...the premise.
About 30 to 40 minutes in, I was clock watching. Had I not been told to watch it, I would have long dumped out of this movie. The main character Max is a perpetually disturbed drug popping mess of a person that repeats his meaningless voiceover pointlessly. He started out a mess, he ended a mess. I missed the character progression in every way. I didn't know what his motivation for his actions were, and the ending didn't help either. There was so much useless space in this movie that I wasn't sure if the filmmaker was desperately trying to be deep, or just plain weird on purpose. Squashing ants, poking brains with pens on stairways, and more bloody noses than Gerry Cooney ever had.
I think this film was just plain too overambitious. First of all, I would have liked an ending. To me, that ending was like spiking the ball while I'm down. Secondly, there was just too much that wasn't explained. Here I believe the writer went overboard on that screenwriting rule of "get in your scene late and get out early." As a moviegoer, I like to fill in small gaps and guess a characters motivation, but these gaps were too big. When that movie was over, I felt I didn't know one character intimately. Not one. I have so many questions about this hum drum movie that I could pick the filmmakers brain for hours having him explain what he was shooting for, because it certainly wasn't apparent in the film. But that would mean I am interested in revisiting it, and I really don't wish to do that. I always question myself when I'm opposed to so many others this much, but I honestly could not defend that movie in any aspect if I were to say I liked it...or even thought it made sense for that matter. This one is a true stinker folks. A good idea alone cannot make a good movie, and Pi states that in 85 minutes.