Interesting...

Rating: 6/10 (24 June 2012)

if you like something different. I finally made it through this movie on my 3rd or so attempt.
I feel like I am generous giving this film a 6, mainly based on effort. It is unique in a lot of ways. I guess since it is an indie (and produced on such a low budget), this allows the director to take chances. Being unique and innovative is good, but if it doesn't help in communicating to the audience, then it fails. The gritty black and white imagery, the quick cutting of shots, the shakiness of the camera in some parts add to the movie in some parts, but get rather tiring and repetitive after a while. Also, I'm a firm believer that you have to root for the protagonist to have an enjoyable movie, and there was basically nothing to make me root for him. It should be possible to build a paranoid character who people can empathize with, but this was not the case with Pi.
So kudos to the director for taking chances... But that doesn't mean it was an enjoyable movie.
Based on the way the movie was filmed, it can be considered timeless (ie, not set in any specific time period). I found the computer set up a bit overdone, but perhaps if it was supposed to be in the 70s or so, I can understand. I found the line about computers gaining consciousness before shutting down a bit much. I've wondered what mathematicians felt about this movie. I suppose positively since there are not many movies where the protagonist is a mathematician.