The Air I Breathe

2008 "The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
6.7| 1h35m| R| en| More Info
Released: 25 January 2008 Released
Producted By: NALA Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A drama based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. A businessman bets his life on a horse race; a gangster sees the future; a pop star falls prey to a crime boss; a doctor must save the love of his life.

Genre

Thriller, Crime

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The Air I Breathe (2008) is now streaming with subscription on Starz

Director

Jieho Lee

Production Companies

NALA Films

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The Air I Breathe Audience Reviews

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
highwaytourist This is one of those movies which should have been great only to become a disaster. It's based partly on the Chinese proverb that four emotions form the foundation of life, Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow, and Love, and those emotions are embodied by four very shallow characters. However, the real foundations of this film are Anger, Frustration, and Pretentiousness. Anyway, the four foundations are used to create four stories which interlock, no doubt inspired by Pulp Fiction. The first story features a timid and stressed-out investment banker identified as Happiness (Forest Whittaker) who has worked hard and played by the rules, only to have a lonely and frustrating life to show for it. So when he overhears his supervisors planning to bet on a horse race with an insider's tip, he bets heavily on the horse, only to lose it all and owe huge money to a classy but ruthless gangster named Fingers (Andy Garcia, who has played this kind of role more times than I can remember). One of Whittaker's more successful clients is identified as Pleasure (Brenden Fraser), a gangster's enforcer of Fingers' who has the ability to see pieces of the future. That ability is not entirely a blessing, as the visions are hard to interpret and take the spontaneity and surprise out of life. Well, Fraser's character is hired by Fingers to babysit his obnoxious gangster wannabe nephew Tony (Emile Hirsch), who of course makes trouble and angers powerful people, which results in Fraser's being beaten up severely. Meanwhile, the third story is about a beautiful but ditsy and vain pop singer named Trista (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who is also identified as "Sorrow." Her sorrow comes when her manager embezzles from her and sells her contract to Fingers to pay off an overwhelming gambling debt. Fingers sees this as a chance to go legit, but he clearly plans to work Trista to death while taking most of her earnings until her fifteen minutes of fame is over. In the last story, Love is a doctor (Kevin Bacon) who's in love with his best friend's wife, a beautiful epidemiologist (Julie Delpy) who gets bitten by a lethal snake and needs a blood transfusion from a rare blood type or she'll die. Did you get all that? A big problem is that all of characters behave in ways so stupid, it's impossible to care about them. It gets even more infuriating because they are forced to react to coincidences that are improbable in a way that's science fiction. There are also a number of lines featuring fortune cookie philosophy and existential angst that are meant to be profound but only evoke sneers from intelligent people. Is there anything good about this film? Well, Jieho Lee proves to be a technically competent director. Also, the talented actors do what they can with their cardboard roles. As a result, there are some attractive shots and a few isolated scenes work. But these minor virtues are overwhelmed by the stupidity and pretentiousness of the script.
ciscokid1970 Pretty good movie. If you liked Crash, Babel and Grand Canyon then you will like this movie. I do not want to tell you too much. There is some violence and nudity so not appropriate for under 18.First of all Jieho Lee wrote and directed this movie and did a brilliant job especially considering that it was his first full movie. He must have been very persuasive, or the screenplay did, because he scored some top notch actors. Andy Garcia does a brilliant job of being a bad guy Brendan Fraser has a emotional character even with minimal lines. Forest Whitaker as always reels in a dramatic performance. Toss in Kevin Bacon, beautiful Julie Delpy and it is a movie that draws you in and keeps you there.
morgandgls I love this movie, it made me cry. But one thing i think they should have done was add more to the story because it falls in to place to fast and you get it even before it starts. I wish they would have done more sorrow and pleasure . But thats just my opinion.( I'm not going to add 10 lines so I'm just gonna copy and paste )I love this movie, it made me cry. But one thing i think they should have done was add more to the story because it falls in to place to fast and you get it even before it starts. I wish they would have done more sorrow and pleasure . But thats just my opinion.I love this movie, it made me cry. But one thing i think they should have done was add more to the story because it falls in to place to fast and you get it even before it starts. I wish they would have done more sorrow and pleasure . But thats just my opinion.I love this movie, it made me cry. But one thing i think they should have done was add more to the story because it falls in to place to fast and you get it even before it starts. I wish they would have done more sorrow and pleasure . But thats just my opinion.
jotix100 Another story in which the characters in the four vignettes are intertwined in different ways, appear to be a favorite of film makers lately. The film follows the concept of "Short Cuts", "Babel", "Amores perros" and others of this genre in a film that keeps the viewer's attention from the beginning. It also marks a film debut of a director whose roots are a mixture of Asian philosophy with an American point of view.There are four sections, or stories. The first one, Happiness, involves an accountant who is a milquetoast. He works for an investment firm where his fellow workers don't show him any kind of respect. When he hears a few of them talking about a sure way to making some money by betting on a horse running in a race that seems to be rigged, he decides to go to the joint and places his bet. Little does he know the man in charge of the illicit business, Fingers, really wants to know how he learned about his underground operation and decides to make good to his nickname by showing the amateur man never to cross him again. He then decides to take matters into his own hand by robbing a bank in order to replace the money he lost.The second story Fingers right hand man, Pleasure, a soft spoken thug, is entrusted with his boss' visiting nephew, Tony, who has his eye into breaking in crime. Alas, Tony, is more interested in bedding women than anything else. The best thing though is the discovery of a new singer, that catches the henchman's attention. They will be tragically connected to one another in the next episode, titled Sorrow. The singer is a protégé of Fingers. She wants to break away from this creepy man desperately. She finds a refuge in Pleasure's home, only to be discovered by Fingers and his men. She is made a prisoner because she has shown disloyalty to her benefactor.The last vignette is about Love, a doctor that attended Pleasure when he was brought to the emergency room. We get to know he had loved Gina, a beautiful young woman who met and married his best friend. She is a researcher working with snakes. When she is bit by one, she goes into a sort of coma, as the antidote doesn't seem to work. Because of a rare blood type, it is almost impossible to save her unless a donor is found. The doctor happens to see an interview with Sorrow, who also has the same type, so he enlists her to help Gina. When all is said and done, we watch as Sorrow goes through an airport because a new freedom she found with the help of Happiness unexpected gift.The film, directed by Jieho Lee and with a screenplay by Bob DeRosa keeps the viewer involved at all times. The best thing Mr. Lee did was getting an ensemble kind of acting from his large cast. Best of all, in our humble opinion, was Andy Garcia, who gives one of his strongest performances in years as the criminal Fingers. Forest Whitaker also has some good moments playing against type. Brandon Fraser, Kevin Bacon, Emile Hirsh, and Julie Delpy, contribute to our enjoyment.One can only wish Mr. Lee a long career in films.