Max Cohen - Sean Gullette
Sol Robeson - Mark Margolis
Marcy Dawson - Pamela Hart
Lenny Meyer - Ben Shenkman
Rabbi Cohen - Stephen Pearlman

Director: Darren Arronofsky

Previews:  Ringmaster, Permanent Midnight, Strangeland

Pi tells the story of recluse genius Max Cohen. Max lives in a barricaded apartment and avoids all human contact if possible. His passion is numbers. He sees them in everything he does and everything he looks at. He sees patterns in the cream in his coffee, in the Japanese parlor game of Go!, in the trees, in society, everywhere. He has a theory that everything in nature is caused by, or explained by, numbers and the obsession with this theory has driven him to the brink of madness. He works diligently on a way to explain the stock market, through mathematics and it is this idea, that is the basis for the change that his life goes through. If I tried to explain any more about the plot, it would not be doing it justice. Let's just say that the surface meanings in this movie are nothing, to what is actually going on. Religion, global economy, and the solution to society's never-ending quest for peace and understanding, are tied together in a neat, but very disturbing package.

The debut performance of Sean Gullette is truly one that deserves more recognition than it may get. His neuroses and paranoia, makes it appear as if the actor has been living this life all along. From his nervous traversing of city streets, to his breakdowns during bouts of seizures/migraines, he is a painful pleasure to watch. The rest of the cast are just satellites around Gullette. Each may or may not have a purpose, but keep orbiting him, and keeping his life just a bit off balance

It's difficult to say I derived any joy from this movie, other than marveling at how well it was written and made. Pi is an incredible vision. You cannot help but bring comparisons to David Lynch's maddening "Eraserhead", in tone, look and feel. But Pi has a deeper (and definitely more comprehendible) plot. I am not that knowledgeable in the ways of filmmaking, but this is the most groundbreaking use of black and white, in a color world, that I have ever seen. Points of view, lighting angles and visions lingered upon further pull you into this film, grab your brain, and never let go. The script is intelligent, without ever being condescending, and the story moves along at a dizzying, but acknowledgeable pace. It never gives you more then you can handle, but also never release the grip that is has on you. It will make you think, and will make you look at things in a whole new perspective. Afterwards, I found myself looking around at everything, and seeing the patterns and numbers. I saw spirals and numerical consistencies in the new carpet in my kitchen, that is what this movie does to you.