I'm really disappointed in you MovieBob. I've forgiven your harsh words in previous reviews because they arguably were less than stellar movies aimed at woo'ing the average american teenage out there. So hearing you lengthily discuss how empty the movie was just something to be expected.
Then you arrive and review a genuinely good movie like Life of Pi, which is a perfect (read faithful) adaption from the book itself and you do everything but piss on it and ... oddly enough, your most positive comments is about the visuals, which, usually is more or less what you complain about.
Anyhow, somehow i have to wonder why you bother criticizing/reviewing hollywood-style movies, if you know the first things about these movies is that they are not where "good" movies are made. You want a good movie, with content and compelling story, you look at an independent movie. You want a good entertainment, a place to put your brain off, you go to the theatre, spend 15$ on a ticket, 40$ on popcorn and pop and you watch the latest hollywood blockbuster.
Your biggest statement in pointing out how you do not understand is seeing how you constantly use the word "Quirky" to define Pi. You clearly haven't read the book. If you had, you would understand Pi a lot more. So please, let me give you a primer...
If that wasn't obvious enough from the movie, Pi is a deeply spiritual person, is he fascinated by the origins and evolutions of the religions. He believes in all the gods. In the book, the author spends nearly half the book on india, just establishing the settings of Pi's spirituality. Once in the sea, this spirituality is what drives Pi, or rather, what we see from him.
The end, the spoiler, which you apparently didn't quite get is the reflection of that spirituality that has driven him and ultimately, saved him.
Now what I'm going to say is still a hotly debated things amongst the fans of the book and it is on how to interpret that ending, but here's my take:
The version with the animals, is the spiritual version of the story, its how Pi "lived and felt" it.
The version with the humans is what really happened.
The link between the two relies on your understanding that Pi IS the tiger. During his entire trip he's been fighting himself, fighting to eat, fighting to keep sane, fighting to stay alive. At first, in the early months, Pi is rather himself and self-aware, thus the constant "fighting" with the tiger, his rationality struggling. Then, as his drift continues, he starts relying more and more on his spirituality as its guide to survival, thus him befriending the tiger, they become one, even though barely surviving. The island at the end is really just that, some delirium, he may be unconcsious and drifting, the author just doesn't say.
At the end, on the beach, the tiger leaves, Pi cries. Pi's rationality is clawing his way back up. He survived! he made it! There is hope, his spirituality saved him (The tiger saved him, he says so in the movie), but now he's back on solid ground, he is saved and needs to become again the rational being he's always been.