Review of The Air I Breathe (2007) by Matthew M — 17 Aug 2008

* I would give this a 3.25 out of 5, not bad* The Air I Breathe is an interesting film to say the least, but still comes off as being sloppy. The film consists of four connecting vignettes that regard a Chinese proverb that deals with four emotions: happiness, pleasure, sorrow, and love.

Granted, all four stories do connect, but at times its a little overreaching and farfetched, and in many ways left me saying, "so what?". In many ways I would describe The Air I Breathe as a shorter and more inconsequential version of Magnolia.

Although this makes the The Air I Breathe seem like a waste of time, but it isn't entirely. The performances by Whitaker and Fraser are riveting, as they get us involved in their suddenly depressing lives and really make us wish they had more screen time.

Unfortunately, many of the other actors don't get enough time and really are left with sketches of a character. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Emile Hirsch, and Kevin Bacon all have potential in their characters, but none of them are giving the screentime to actually make an impact.

Granted Hirsch's character is more a minor point, but more time spent with him could've helped developed a character he comes in contact within the film. From that lies my biggest gripe with this film and that is its scope.

The film is far too light on story and emotional weight as each character's dillemma comes off as underdeveloped and unimportant. This is most evident in the "love" segment of the film, where it starts with Bacon's character being important, but a few minutes in, he takes the back burner to another character.

I just wish writer and director Jieho Lee would've delivered more meat to his script and added some significance to each character's lives. Granted in the end, each character's lives play a pivotal role in finding a new beginning for someone, but aside from Whitaker's and Fraser's characters, most of the characters are too small, in a miniature story, to really have us care in the end.

The Air I Breathe is an interesting concept, with some deliveries, but it doesn't quite grasp us into the emotional states it hopes to depict.