Review of The Air I Breathe

Air I Breathe

The Air I Breathe is the feature debut by director Jieho Lee. You can call him "G." G's direction impressed me. I am not a connoisseur of films starring Andy Garcia, but somehow this first time director got Garcia acting better than I've seen him act before. Brendan Fraser has not been this good since, possibly 1992, the year he starred in School Ties and Encino Man. Brooding and wounded seems to fit better for Fraser than running around shouting like in The Mummy and George of the Jungle. Emile Hirsch could have used s0me more direction, because other the funny scene in which he trashes a shop, his character was more of a caricature. Forest Whitaker was excellent, but the movie seemed to breeze through his slightly underdeveloped character. A full film could have been made following the story of Brendan Fraser's super power charged thug. Although I saw strengths in the acting and directing, I thought the screenplay was a little immature. For example, there is a gangster named Fingers, who collects you know what, in the tradition of Bound. Four stories are interweaved in the tradition of Inarritu's films, 21 Grams and Amores Perros. The unifying theme of these tales in The Air I Breathe is apparently a Chinese proverb. Other than the words signifying which part of the proverb is which, the bond is weak. The worst thing about the script is that other than Kevin Bacon's character, none of the characters knows why they do anything. Unfortunately, the story of love is underdeveloped and relies on a suspension of belief. As I began to watch the film, the High Definition to 35mm film print was jarring, but after a few minutes, the muddy film transfer contributed a style to this slick noir. The movie might look better on DVD, as 28 Days Later did. Many shots are blurry, but the interestingly framed shots leave an impression on the viewer.

Posted on 01/29/08 by: A Nick 12:43 AM