Truly independent

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 1999)

At the end of the 1990s, the decade in which "independent film" came to mean "commercial film with small budget," Pi is a breath of fresh, avant-garde air. From its original premise to the original dialogue to the original storyline, Pi is a risky movie that could have gone horribly wrong at several points and never did.
Sean Gullette's near-perfect performance is made all the better by his expressive face, which should always be photographed in black and white. Another reviewer, in Salon Magazine I believe, said the movie's portrayal of migraine headaches is the most realistic depiction of them ever put on screen. I've never had a migraine, so I can't confirm that, but Pi may be the only movie to depict migraines, and the depiction makes damn good cinema.
Pi is the only movie to do a lot of things ... such as have rabbis rescuing someone from government agents without that being campy or comic. (It may have been intended to be funny, but we soon learn the rabbis are up to something serious.)
The only flaw is the subplot involving Max's mysterious corporate benefactors, which seems to be more of a satire on modern telemarketers. I'm tempted to say a movie about pi requires unresolved elements -- because pi itself is unresolved -- but that's a little too pretentious for me.
And I could go on about certain plot elements that are introduced, suggested, and wisely avoided, but I don't want to give too much away. Rent Pi! It may be the 20th century's last great independent film.