george.schmidt Review of The Air I Breathe

The Air I Breathe (2007)

Fairly engaging set of vignettes a la "Crash" meets "Twenty Bucks"

[6/10 · 28 January 2008]

THE AIR I BREATHE (2008) ** Kevin Bacon, Julie Delpy, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Emile Hirsch, Forest Whitaker, Clark Gregg, Kelly Hu, Taylor Nichols, John Ho. Odd yet somewhat engaging interlinking character by fate set of four vignettes involving Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow and Love in Los Angeles has echoes of "Crash" and "Twenty Bucks". Whitaker is an accountant who runs afoul of a violent thug after a gambling bet goes awry; Fraser is a pre-cog hit-man for the violent thug (Garcia hamming it up), who has a Faustian deal with an up-and-comer pop singer (Gellar in one of her more memorable big screen turns); and Bacon is a doctor determined to save the woman he loves (Delpy) from a dangerous snake bite. The talented ensemble cast has a field day and novice filmmaker Jieho Lee – who co-scripted with Bob DeRosa – has an eye for the visual but not the compelling overall. Nice try anyway.