The Air I Breathe (2008)

Why so much hype?

Did you people see the same film I saw?

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. How is this rated 7 by living breathing humans. This fact alone makes me seriously question the validity of creating the human race. How can this movie be rated a 7? Are people that silly that they could glean some sort of cinematic enjoyment from this? There is literally no plot whatsoever. There is no likable characters. I don't care if this is @based on some Chinese proverb@, that doesn't make it deep. Where is the Chinese proverb for crappy movie? He who does not have a brain shall enjoy brainless movie? I admit it started off half-decent , but after 10 minutes and when the guy robs the bank that has got to be the most stupid and uncalled for scene in movie that is actually trying to take itself seriously.

Not sure how the Chinese proverb on which the film is based goes exactly but it's something along the lines of: Love, Pleasure, Sorrow & Happiness are the four basic emotions that we experience in life and one cannot exist without the other nor can one be so powerful that it sustains its feeling forever. Something to that effect and with that basis we are introduced the first of the four characters who will embody these four emotions throughout the course of the film. Happiness (Forest Whitaker) is an average Joe with an uneventful life working a dead-end job and dreaming of a better life when he crosses paths with Pleasure (Brendan Fraser) a mysterious and moody gentleman who comes into Happiness' office to place bets on the stock market and has never lost a bet. One night, Happiness dreams of a butterfly that flies into his room in the middle of the night and perches on his bedpost and the next morning while in his office's restroom her overhears a conversation between his co-workers who have inside information about a winning horse from an upcoming race, he hears the name of the horse is "butterfly" and sees this as a sign and takes his entire savings to bet on the horse but unfortunately loses and becomes indebted to a notorious mob boss named Fingers (played by Andy Garcia). Meanwhile, Fingers (who also happens to be Pleasure's boss) has just received a big payment from one of his debtors in the form of an up and coming pop star named Trista (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) who also embodies the emotion Sorrow. The debtor was Trista's former manager who has handed over his top client as partial payment for his gambling debts (unbeknowst to Trista) and when Trista comes to know about this, she is furious but forced to go along with this new arrangement. While getting acquainted with her new handlers, she crosses paths with Pleasure who is smitten with her and sparks fly between them. Meanwhile, somewhere across town, a poisonous snake has just bitten a woman with a rare blood type who also happens to be the unrequited love of Love's (Kevin Bacon) life and he races against the clock to try and save her, while in the emergency room he catches a glimpse of Sorrow AKA Trista giving an interview to an entertainment channel in which when asked what's so special about her, she reveals that she has a very rare blood type which happens to be the same as Love's dying love. The rest of the movie sees Love tracking down Sorrow and while it's tedious at times to keep track of what is going on, the story is beautifully told and beautifully acted by its apt cast and it all comes together in the end.

The Air I Breathe is the directorial film debut of Korean-American filmmaker Jieho Lee, who co-wrote the script with Bob DeRosa. In this powerful film, four very different people on the edge of desperation are unexpectedly linked by their destinies. A top-notch cast featuring Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Emile Hirsch unforgettably brings to life the stories of a clairvoyant gangster, a rising pop star, an unlikely bank robber and a doctor desperate to save the love of his life.The concept of the film is based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones – Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow, and Love. The proverb speaks of these emotions, not as isolated fragments of feelings, but as elements that make up the whole of the human existence. Each of the four protagonists is based on one of the four emotions; and like the proverb their paths are inextricably linked to each other, akin to the Fingers of a hand.A powerful crime boss, Fingers, subtly controls the destinies of four people whose circumstances have brought them to a crossroads in their lives. A quiet business executive is told that an upcoming horse race has been rigged and bets everything he has on his belief that the story is true. A noted pop singer discovers her career is hanging in the balance when she's forced to sever ties with her manager. A doctor must set aside a physician's traditional guidelines when circumstances demand he treat the woman he loves after a serious accident. And a criminal has a powerful vision of the future, but can't decide if his premonitions are to be trusted. Every so often a crime drama with delusions of existential grandeur comes ambling down the pike. Sometimes a philosophically-inclined filmmaker strikes cinematic gold. If video director Jieho Lee's erratic debut falls short of that estimable mark, he can't be faulted for lack of ambition. It is a jumbled Independent production that accomplishes little save for the squandering of a talented cast,who themselves could not help the film reach its potential.Each story has its moments but it lacks an overarching vision.Added to that,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.But inconsistent acting and clunky dialogue aside, it infuses conventional genre thrills with introspection to intermittently engaging effect.

First of all this movie is not a pure action movie ... i simply noticed it on the recommendation list after looking at the review for Snath (one of my fav) so after seeing the rating i thought due to the recommendation and a 7.1 avg, you would think its a decent movie of staying in.let me say something before anything...i never considered Brendan Fraser an actor of any sort. he kinda came along to me as those actors that do those simple comedy movies. i kind liked him in Crash but he didn't capture my attention that well. but her i was simply blown. he truly captured that essence u look for in a movie where u can really spot the talent of an actor. he presented every emotion with brute force.yet this movie doesn't revolve around Brendan's character. you might think it revolves around Fingers (Andy Garcia) for he is the glue to all the characters in the plot. its about life and he chances that come along. it is deep, as deep as Crash but without the racism.this movie is a complex one, and i believe its worth your while for it is a love story combination of crash. it has one hell of a plot and a smashing ending. not the type that you would expect from thriller movies but the type where you might shed a tear in the end.this is a movie to be remembered yet, it had no hype....what a shame a perfect 10