![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Life-of-Pi-202x300.jpg\" "\\"Life")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cLife of Pi\u201d is the best film of the 2012 Thanksgiving season. The film is expertly crafted by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ang Lee, it features an amazing debut performance from actor Suraj Sharma, it has perhaps the most beautiful water and aquatic life ever depicted on film, and there\u2019s a big Bengal tiger just waiting for you to show it love. Despite all of these attributes, the film has failed to climb higher than fifth place at the box office for the past two weekends. Fifth place over a lucrative holiday weekend is not exactly a shameful performance, but I would like to see it do better. There\u2019s still time for you to give it your family\u2019s business while fleeting kiddie junk like \u201cRise of the Guardians\u201d falls like a rock off the charts.<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s early scenes depict the childhood of our hero Pi (Sharma) as he grows up in India. He overcomes bullying through mathematics (or at least memorizing numbers); an inspiring feat that I\u2019m sure would get him bullied even worse outside of this uplifting movie. His family runs a local zoo, and his father teaches him at a young age to respect and fear the animals, particularly a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. He experiments with various religions, and his family has a spirited discussion on the subject of spirituality. These scenes are surprisingly compelling and workmanlike considering that they take place before we get to the action. You\u2019ll get a real appreciation for the dynamic and chemistry of Pi\u2019s family, which sadly means that you\u2019ll miss them all the more when they vanish in a spectacular shipwreck.<\/p>\n
Pi soon finds himself the lone human survivor of the wreck, sharing a lifeboat with a pitiable zebra, a sympathetic orangutan, a malicious hyena, and the enigma that is Richard Parker. Perhaps inevitably, the boat\u2019s crew is quickly down to Pi and Richard Parker. At first Pi lives in fear of Richard Parker, surviving on a makeshift raft independent of the relative luxury of the lifeboat. Slowly the two form a bond of mutual dependency \u2013 Richard Parker depends on Pi to provide him with his future food supply and Pi depends on Richard Parker not to make him his future food supply. This relationship built on fear and need gradually turns into one of respect and friendship as the two share the experience of a lifetime.<\/p>\n
The film never misses an opportunity to look absolutely gorgeous. Scenes set on land are none too shabby (my favorite being a lush, unspoiled island) but it\u2019s at sea when the film is really a feast for the eyes. Colorful marine life pops up all the time to remind our heroes that they are a small part of a big thriving world. The water itself is spellbinding, often harsh and unforgiving, but on rare occasion so tranquil and glasslike in consistency that I could swear the boat had washed ashore. The animals are, of course, rendered flawlessly to maximize the emotional impact. Richard Parker is legitimately scary at times, but believe me you\u2019ll be feeling for him when he gets thin and mangy. For that matter, you\u2019ll be equally moved by the performance of Suraj Sharma as Pi starts to look thin and mangy himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife of Pi\u201d is filled with moments that are meant to be savored. Maybe the last act could go along at a faster clip because Pi is telling the story as an adult (Irrfan Khan) so we\u2019re fairly sure of the outcome of some of his do-or-die decisions. Pi\u2019s story is more interesting when the question is \u201chow does he?\u201d than when the question is simply \u201cdoes he?\u201d. Even then the film manages to throw some uncertainty into the narrative. Such is the challenging nature of \u201cLife of Pi\u201d, one of the most intelligent, exciting, and impressive family films of the year.<\/p>\n
Three Stars out of Five.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife of Pi\u201d is playing at the Hershey Cocoaplex. Call 312-1300 for showtimes and other info. The film is rated PG for emotional thematic material throughout, and some scary action sequences and peril. Its running time is 127 minutes.<\/p>\n