Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
49
2012
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
70
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
52
Blind Side
47
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
23
Couples Retreat
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
41
G-Force
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
28
Pandorum
58
Pirate Radio
39
Planet 51
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
46
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum
56
Adam
39
Adventures of Power
66
Afterschool
73
Amreeka
49
Antichrist
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The
71
Big Fan
65
Black Dynamite
76
Bliss
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star
76
Broken Embraces
70
Bronson
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
60
Collapse
82
Cove, The
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The
53
Dare
50
Defamation
67
Departures
70
Earth Days
85
Education, An
55
Endgame
88
Fantastic Mr. Fox
31
Fix
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
xx
From Mexico with Love
28
Gentlemen Broncos
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Horse Boy, The
74
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
26
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
43
Little Traitor, The
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
46
Love Hurts
84
Maid, The
45
Mammoth
75
Messenger, The
55
Missing Person, The
59
More Than a Game
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
48
New York, I Love You
66
No Impact Man
26
Oh My God
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Red Cliff
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
65
Skin
41
Splinterheads
42
Staten Island
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
58
Storm
82
Sun, The
49
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73
That Evening Sun
61
Trucker
49
Turning Green
83
U2 3D
45
Uncertainty
67
Visual Acoustics
32
War on Kids
67
Way We Get By, The
65
Wedding Song, The
xx
White on Rice
59
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74
Woman in Berlin, A
43
Women in Trouble
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Air I Breathe, The
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 9 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Crime | Drama | Romance
Written by:
Jieho Lee
Bob DeRosa
Directed by: Jieho Lee
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 25, 2008
DVD: May 27, 2008
Running Time: minutes, Color
Origin: Mexico / USA
Summary
RATING: R for violence, language and some sexual content/nudity
Starring Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Brendan Fraser, Julie Delpy, and Emile Hirsch
Inspired by a Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four key emotions – Happiness, Sorrow, Pleasure, and Love – The Air I Breathe is told in four short fables, each built around a character who embodies one of these key emotions. In Happiness, a timid banker who impulsively bets every cent he has, and then some, on a supposedly “sure thing.” In “Sorrow,” a rising pop star whose contract falls under the control of a ruthless crime boss, and his corrupt nephew. In “Pleasure,” a man who can see into the future of everyone he meets, but is totally blind when it comes to his own; and in “Love,” a doctor who pines for a woman he can never possess, only to find that he suddenly holds her life in his hands. Though each of the characters believes that his or her life is governed by hazard and chance, their unbridled emotions, impulsive choices, and reckless moves all prove one universal truth: character is destiny, and each of us makes our own fate. (THINKfilm)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
TV Guide Ken Fox
Lee deserves a lot of credit for attempt the same kind of complex story structure Quentin Tarantino made look so easy in "Pulp Fiction": Like Tarantino's interlocking stories, Lee's four segments occur achronologically and come full circle in a neat twist at the very end.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
An ingenious contraption that holds your attention for as long as it whirs and clicks like a mechanized Rubik’s Cube. After it’s over, however, you may find yourself scratching your head and wondering if there was any purpose to this sleek little gizmo.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The source for Jieho Lee's The Air I Breathe is an ancient Chinese proverb about the four cornerstones of emotion - love, pleasure, happiness and sorrow. But Lee and co-writer Bob DeRosa went 0-4 with their convoluted screenplay, making me thankful they didn't try to adapt the Seven Deadly Sins.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Each story has its moments, but "Air" lacks an overarching vision.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Situations get increasingly ridiculous, and none of the characters ever seems like anything but a screenwriter's sketch.
Read Full Review >Variety Ronnie Scheib
Stellar thesps gamely strive to elevate the one-note material, but gravity ultimately defeats them in this relentless downer.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
The destiny-versus- responsibility hand-wringing is Philosophy 101, the camera angles straight out of film school, and the pacing strictly music-video. Plus, the ta-da! twist ending is foreshadowed roughly 20 minutes into the action, for those still interested.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
A top-notch varied group of actors, no doubt attracted by the colorfulness of their roles, has been assembled, but their hardworking efforts are ultimately done in by the supremely pretentious nature of the material.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
A stew of cheap irony, ponderous but meaningless allegory, violence and pretension, the movie is all borrowed style and calculated pandering. It does, however, get more ludicrous by the minute. So in that sense, it's good for an occasional laugh.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.5 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad S. gave it a5:
A screenwriter's convolution, or is it possible that Love(Kevin Bacon) is so in love with Gina(Julie Delpy), the doctor just can't help approach the security guards with too much piss, too much vigor? He needs Sorrow's blood. Love learns that the pop star(played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) has the same rare blood type as Gina during Sorrow's interview with a rock journalist. No. We're not in Japan. But anyway, rather than approach Sorrow in a calm, orderly fashion(just like any medical professional would), the doctor bum-rushes the pop star like a fanatic. Needless to say, the doctor's attempt to acquire the blood, fails. And you know what? Love actually gets a second chance. That's when "The Air I Breathe" reaches for its revolver and shoots the region inside our brains that controls our suspension of disbelief.
[Anonymous] gave it a7:
Entertaining, involving, with good performances, why did this movie inspire such revulsion? Better than about 2/3 of the product on the market. Biggest weakness: inconsistent use of paranormal gimmick.
Guy M. gave it a7:
Did not quite get what was so "happy" about the happiness portion of the four part section but overall I enjoyed the movie
M Blues gave it a2:
Ludicrous, ridiculous, beyond silly. What in the world are these great actors thinking?? The writer/director must come from serious $$$.
