Of the big questions raised in “Life of Pi,” there is at least one definitive answer: You can’t be friends with a Bengal tiger.

Director Ang Lee (“Brokeback Mountain”) has done what many thought impossible. He’s crafted a thrilling and visually spectacular adventure film out of Yann Martel’s unconventional bestseller.

Lee and screenwriter David Magee frame the flashback-heavy opening act with a reporter (Rafe Spall) interviewing an adult Pi Patel (Irffan Khan), who as a boy was the sole survivor of a shipwreck and 227 grueling days in a lifeboat at sea. (more…)