Life of Pi

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Adil Hussain, Tabu and Gerard Deparadieu

Directed by: Ang Lee

Written by: David Magee

Rating: 5/5 Unicorns

Based on the best selling novel written by Yann Martel, Life of Pi tells the remarkable survival story of Pi Patel( Suraj Sharma). After surviving a fatal shipwreck, Pi finds himself on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with 450 pound Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. 

The first time I watched the trailer for Life of Pi it immediately was on top of my must see list. Now that we are in Award Season, I have been hearing more praise for the film. It has been picking up nominations left and right. After watching the film over the weekend it lived up to all of my expectations. Life of Pi was the most visually stimulating film I have seen since Avatar. The cinematography in this film was simply out of this world. Its cinematography alone is a great reason to check out this film. Not to mention the visual effects were astounding. I had several awe moments while watching this film. I highly recommend that you catch it in 3D if you can. It is one of the few films that were made for 3D purposes and not converted to 3D better for revenue at the box office. 

Life of Pi is more than its cinematography and visual effects, it is also great story to watch. Ang Lee did a fantastic job bringing this much loved story to life. I was thoroughly impressed with Suraj Sharma who I felt keep the audiences thoroughly engaged with his portrayal as Pi. He is a bright future ahead of him. Not too many actors can do what he did in this film. The score of the film was fantastic as well. It made the significant moments in the film even more powerful. What I loved about the film is that it makes you think about life and yourself. It makes you think about your destiny and how much you can endure. It really boils down to being a  film about faith. You are left wondering what story to believe. Personally I have always believed in the stories that were inconceivable. How they used to say it in the 90's, this movie is deep son. 

Since the majority of the film takes place on a lifeboat its running time feels longer than it actually is. I have seen several movies that were longer than Life of Pi but because there was so much going on I did not feel the duration. The reason I did not deduct points from the rating is because the film was just beautiful. The more I thought about the film, the more I loved it. It leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. In fact I look forward to watching the film for a second time.