Jon Peters Reviews: “The Air I Breathe”

The Film:

Sometimes you have to wonder how a movie with such an impressive cast can be rarely seen or as with ‘The Air I Breathe’, go directly to DVD. The cast includes Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon, Andy Garcia, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Brendan Fraser, Julie Delpy, and Emile Hirsh; I mean wow, that’s a pretty star studded cast, so why have most people not even heard of this film, which came out earlier this year? Good question.

The story is focused within four segments, Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow, and Love, with all of the characters having this interwoven storylines that affect one another. It’s ambitious, borderline sappy, but an actual interesting little film. I can’t say it’s a gem, or go rush and seek it out, but if you’re done with most of the mainstream fair at Blockbuster, renting ‘The Air I Breathe’ would not be a bad choice. There are far worse things to see.

The real meat of the film is Brendan Fraser’s story. He’s a goon, working for Andy Garcia, a hired hand, but has a unique ability to see briefly the future. When he has a chance encounter with Trista, a budding pop star, he sees something new: nothing. His future is uncertain and he believes it is because of Trista (Gellar). But their lives are not meant to be as Trista is contractually owned by Fingers (Garcia). Here’s where the film ascends beyond what could be a pretentious idea. Fraser’s goon character is a sad but likeable man. Trista is sad and beautiful, but directionless. Fingers is a mean bull, always getting what he wants. I got pretty involved with this three-way dilemma; I just wish the film wasn’t hampered by the final story, ‘Love’.

In ‘Love’, Bacon plays a doctor whose buddy is a plastic surgeon and the segment begins with them talking about the nature of their jobs and how they save lives. It’s too telegraphed to what will happen, no matter how director Jieho Lee tries to add elements of surprise. It boggles down the film to a slow conclusion.

The film is really slick and features some good performances, even though each character’s problems are cardboard cutout plot devices. Each character will learn something new about their little existences and the film isn’t as shallow as it might have been. It’s no ‘Babel’ or ‘Short Cuts’, but with this cast, it makes it a little better than it should be.

So why did this not get a theatrical push? Well, the film isn’t too deep, it’s all surface level drama, perhaps making it a better viewing experience at home or even as an HBO film. A few sequences feel over-edited; perhaps the director is working out from his music video background. The films middle act is the best, well-written, interesting, and even though there’s some fun to how each character connects, it feels too uneven. Still, it’s worth a rental.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The picture is pristine. A marvelous transfer full of detail and clarity. Audio is fine too.

Audio Commentary: Lee gives some interesting facts about the film and the themes as he’s joined by the producers. They are quite enthusiastic about the project and they should be. Nice little listen if you are so inclined for a film like this.

Deleted Scenes: About five minutes of stuff that wouldn’t have added too much in the overall film.

It features a great cast, some with little to do, but totally worth a rental, if you’re having trouble to decide on what to rent next.