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Movies / On DVD / The Air I Breathe
The Air I Breathe

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The Air I Breathe (2007)

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Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:3

Rotten:20

Average Rating:3.9/10

Consensus: The Air I Breathe is a jumbled indie production that accomplishes little save for the squandering of a talented cast.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, language and some sexual content/nudity.

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Jan 25, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Solid performances from an all-star cast bring this ensemble drama to life. As parallel stories unfold, the viewer discovers unlikely connections between several seemingly unrelated people. Though... Solid performances from an all-star cast bring this ensemble drama to life. As parallel stories unfold, the viewer discovers unlikely connections between several seemingly unrelated people. Though the film is divided up into segments entitled "Happiness," "Pleasure," "Sorrow," and "Love," the mood is melancholy overall. Splattered with violent acts, THE AIR I BREATHE touches on the aforementioned themes and more, pondering the meaning of life and death through characters who live on the edge and risk everything for the thrill of joy, chance, and escape, even if that means death. The film begins with Forest Whitaker playing a bored and frustrated nine-to-fiver who feels stuck in his routine. After taking a huge risk on a whim and losing it all, the doomed businessman has the unlucky fortune of meeting with Brendan Fraser's character, a numb hit-man who feels no remorse until crossing paths with a troubled pop star (Sarah Michelle Gellar). At the center of much of this chaos is Fingers (Andy Garcia), a ruthless villain intent on killing anyone who gets in the way of his success. Though the plot at times feels contrived with all its strategically placed coincidences, writer-director Jieho Lee anchors the film with clever editing and a thoughtful script, which is careful to cover events from multiple points of view. Julie Delpy and Emile Hirsch give dimension to the stories as secondary characters whose actions become central to the plot. [More]

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Andy Garcia, Julie Delpy, Clark Gregg, Emile Hirsch

Director: Jieho Lee

Director: Jieho Lee
Screenwriter: Jieho Lee, Bob DeRosa
Producer: Paul Schiff, Emilio Diez Barroso, Darlene Caamano Loquet, Ian Duncan
Composer: Marcelo Zavros
Studio: ThinkFilm

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Release:

May 20, 2008

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Reviews for The Air I Breathe

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As the plot strands begin to coalesce everything becomes far too overwrought.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
06/12/08
Amber Wilkinson
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film

The movie takes itself way too seriously, and it doesn’t add up to much, but, nevertheless, it’s borderline entertaining.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
02/28/08
J.B. Mitchell
J.B. Mitchell
Orlando Weekly

Your appreciation of this circular plotting will have a great deal to do with how tongue-in-cheek you believe the film is

Full Review Source: New York Theatre Wire | comment Comment
02/11/08
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
New York Theatre Wire

Mr. Lee is a former director of Asian music videos, which explains why his debut feature, from the high-octane opening credits to the Marnie-esque ending, is all style and no substance.

Full Review Source: Manhattan Movie Magazine | comment Comment
02/03/08
Marlow Stern
Marlow Stern
Manhattan Movie Magazine

A perfectly awful example of a certain breed of American indie film that brings together a lot of familiar faces for an ensemble drama about...nothing.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment 3 Comments
01/25/08
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com

None of the four morality plays ... are necessarily original in plot, nor is the film itself particularly innovative in its structure ... it just seems flat and useless.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
01/25/08
Christopher Campbell
Christopher Campbell
Cinematical

Each story has its moments, but Air lacks an overarching vision.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
01/25/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Aside from demonstrating how liberation and change can occur even at the most dire turn of events, it's not exactly clear exactly what his overly ambitious drama is trying to say.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/25/08
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Brendan Fraser is Pleasure, Sarah Michelle Gellar is Sorrow, Kevin Bacon is Love, Forest Whitaker is Happiness, and the director is Pretension.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
01/25/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I can't fault any of the actors for anything other than bad judgment. Their performances are fine, but a good fortune cookie might have told them to stay away from this.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
01/25/08
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A stew of cheap irony, ponderous but meaningless allegory, violence and pretension, the movie is all borrowed style and calculated pandering. It does, however, get more ludicrous by the minute. So in that sense, it's good for an occasional laugh.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/25/08
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

not a nihilistic work of cinematic art, but a laugh-out-loud slapstick free-for-all.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/24/08
Paul Brenner
Paul Brenner
Filmcritic.com

Four unappealing mini-dramas about happiness, pleasure, sorrow, and love.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment 1 Comment
01/24/08
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Ah, January, hallowed dustbin for projects half-baked, too cooked, or both, as in the case of this overstuffed actioner.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
01/24/08
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

With any luck, The Air I Breathe should be the last gasp of the faux-Altmanesque school of serendipitous storytelling.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
01/24/08
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It’s particularly frustrating to watch Whittaker, the strongest thespian of the bunch, desperately mine for gold in a narrative landslide.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
01/23/08
Eric Kohn
Eric Kohn
New York Press

[Jieho] doesn't know what to do with actors, however, and the film's impressive ensemble is wasted.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/23/08
Rex Roberts
Rex Roberts
Film Journal International

Morosely pretentious.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/22/08
Ronnie Scheib
Ronnie Scheib
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ignore all of that foolishness and watch the collision of emotions The Air I Breathe provides -- it is enough all by itself to leave you breathless.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
01/18/08
Tim Cogshell
Tim Cogshell
Boxoffice Magazine

For rock-bottom nasty, with no social relevance, there is The Air I Breathe, a load of amateurish bilge so silly I thought I was watching a screening at Comedy Central.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
01/16/08
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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