Not brilliant, but not bad.

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2000)

In my view, this is what you might call a "litmus test" film. You can tell a lot about a person by how they react to it.
The dimmer bulbs will complain they just didn't get it. The plot leaves a lot up to the viewer -- if you don't pay attention and try to fill in some of the blanks on your own, this movie will lose you in the first half hour. Most of what's going on is never explained, and must be inferred -- I think a lot of people will have to see this one twice.
The moderately bright will be impressed by the film's treatment of mathematics, patterns, and a conspiracy that spans reality itself. This is inherently cool stuff, but has already been handled better by the likes of William S. Burroughs and Robert Anton Wilson. Ultimately, the mathematics angle falls flat... I had to suppress an outright laugh at lines about machines becoming self-aware after being fed a certain equation, or the main character -- a mathematician -- accusing some rabbis searching for the True Name of God of "already trying every 216-letter combination" -- a feat which would require more time than our planet has been in existence.
The places where this film shines are in the editing, the soundtrack, and the overall look of the film. The plot is ultimately shallow, a story that could probably have fit on a single page, but the film is techno-noir eye candy de luxe. I am looking forward to see what the director does with the formidable writing talents of Frank Miller on his side in the forthcoming "Batman: Year One" movie. As for "Pi", I probably won't be springing for the DVD anytime soon -- but I *will* be purchasing the soundtrack.