The Air I Breathe (2008) Synopsis:
A businessman (Forest Whitaker) bets his life on a horse race, a gangster (Brendan Fraser) sees the future, a pop star (Sarah Michelle Gellar) falls prety to a crime boss (Andy Garcia) and a doctor (Kevin Bacon) must save the love of his life. Based on a Chinese proverb, these four overlapping stories dramatize the four emotional cornerstones of life: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love.
The Air I Breathe (2008) Movie Review:
In the last couple of years audiences have been treated to thought provoking intertwining character films like Crash and Babel. One sense that a trend would start with the structure that these universal films unveiled effectively. Now comes along The Air I Breathe, a lousy, rushed intertwining character study based on the ancient Chinese proverb that deconstructs life into four emotional sections: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love.
The four central characters are in fact named after the sections of the proverb. Happiness (Forest Whitaker) is a lonely stockbroker that gambles everything away, Pleasure (Brendan Fraser) is a forceful mobster that has the ability to see glimpses of the future, Sorrow (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a successful pop star that is now the debt slave to Pleasure’s ruthless boss (Andy Garcia), and Love (Kevin Bacon) is a doctor that is trying to save his true love (Julie Delpy). Each of these characters get there moment in the story and by the climax all are connected in one way or another.
First time writer/director Jieho Lee had good intentions with this film, but his execution is dull and unbalanced. Each of the four characters do not get the same amount of depth, Happiness is very well developed, while Love just arises. The character choices and relationships are also rushed and the establishment of Pleasure’s psychic gift is ignored when his character most needs it. The film really just gets jumbled and is so crammed with its 97 minutes running time. The dialogue from the script is at times laughable and the first act of the film is the strongest, with the final one being the weakest. The symbolism used by Lee with a butterfly is essential and the Chinese proverb is something of interest, but his execution is troubled.
Forest Whitaker is the best of the cast as the troubled Happiness, without much to work with Whitaker makes you care for this person. Brendan Fraser, who was also in Crash, is solid as the mobster Pleasure and Kevin Bacon does what he can with his brief time as Love. Andy Garcia once again plays a mean and well manicured crime lord as Fingers, in which his performance is at times over the top. Emile Hirsch is wasted as Fingers’ foul-mouthed nephew, in which Pleasure has to keep an eye on. Julie Delpy also just arises as the true love of the Bacon character, which he raises against the clock to save. The real weak link in the cast is Sarah Michelle Gellar, whom just seems lost at times in her performance as the pop star Sorrow.
The Air I Breathe attempts to achieve greatness and it does not even come close. Though including a strong cast and an understandable attempt by Jieho Lee to create something unique, the film just fails in more than one area in telling a story of the universality of life.
Our Rating: 
User Rating: 
Log in to rate this movie
The Air I Breathe (2008) review written by: Bailey Henderson
7th September, 2008 
28th August 2008: George Clooney Up In The Air! 
