Movie Rewind: Pi (1998)

Director: Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream)

Cast: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis (The Wrestler, The Fountain), Ben Shenkman, Pamela Hart, Stephen Pearlman (Die Hard: With a Vengeance)

The Deal: Max Cohen (Gullette) is a genius mathematician and computer whiz who's searching for the key to understanding all existence. He's built a computer that can predict the stock market, and one day right before his computer fries, it spits out 216 numbers. A Wall Street firm and a Hasidic sect separately pursue Max's work for their own personal gain, but Max believes only he is meant to understand these numbers. Being a secretive person, he does not take too well to the new found attention, and he must also cope with terrible headaches that have plagued him since he stared into the sun when he was 6.

Thoughts: Darren Aronofsky has directed some wonderful films, and Pi is the film that put his name on the map. The story follows that math is the language of nature, and that anywhere one looks, they will find patterns. The interesting thing about the film is that this idea applies to both science and religion. The Hasidic sect believes that numbers in the Torah are the key to God's true name, and the Wall Street cronies believe they can use the numbers scientifically to get rich. Mathematicians may not find the film as complex as they would hope, but the ideas are still very enjoyable.

The only real performer in the film is Gullette, and he did a fantastic job. The viewer truly feels that he is obsessed with numbers, and his extreme headaches were frighteningly believable. He's very paranoid around other people, as he fails to trust all but Sol Roberson (Margolis), an older friend who is also obsessed over the numbers. This film would have failed with a poor performance from Gullette, but his work is more than enough to carry the film.

The thing that bugs me the most about the film is that the viewer never really gets an answer to the numbers. The film holds a fair amount of tension throughout, and the reveal that the numbers could be the key to the Torah and stock market provide the pieces for a thrilling ending that the viewer never gets. I would have liked to see it play out this way, but the ending the viewer does get is still slightly shocking and probably the better choice based on who Max really is. It's the more realistic choice for the character given his obsession, paranoia, and illness. Many viewers would find it somewhat of an insane decision that they would never handle in the same way, but Max is after all, far from normal.

Verdict: A film that lives up to its tag line, "faith in chaos". The film is both interesting and enjoyable, and Sean Gullette gives an excellent performance. ☆☆☆☆

Liked It? Try These: A Beautiful Mind (2001), Primer (2004), The Number 23 (2007)