Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Life of Pi’: The Forging of Faith

One of the (very few) problems with this film is that it’s primarily a coming-of-age story.

September 28, 2012 | PG | 2h 7min

“Life of Pi,” director Ang Lee’s 3-D film from the same-titled 2001 best-selling novel, is a sort of mash-up of “We Bought a Zoo,“ ”The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,“  ”Castaway,“ and ”Meet the Patels.“ ”Life of Pi” is an enchanting coming-of-age story.

What Goes On

There’s an Indian boy named Piscine Patel. His family owns a zoo. His first name means swimming pool, in French, which naturally serves up a lot of teasing at school, so he changes it to Pi, and memorizes that entire famous mathematical number to prove it. But the other kids, of course, refuse to relinquish “Piscine;” it’s just too much fun to say, especially when you replace the “e” with a  “g” at the end of it. Children are cruel.