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Air I Breathe, The

4/10

Stars: Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Julie Delpy, Emile Hirsch, Kelly Hu

Director: Jieho Lee

A morosely pretentious, darkly-shot portmanteau movie, weaving together four separate stories into an integral whole. Few flickers of light are allowed into the film's primordial gloom, as a starry cast dances with death and destiny.

First man up here is a stressed-out Whitaker, as a bank employee who unwisely gambles a fortune on a horse race he believes to be fixed. Fraser plays the muscleman who gives a gun to this piteous creature when it all goes pear-shaped, then falls for the singer (Gellar) held in thrall by his boss (Garcia).

But Gellar's blood group could in turn save a woman (Delpy) that surgeon Bacon lost but still loves.

The cast do their best, Fraser in particular overcoming seemingly dodgy casting, but the director is determined to create Art, and tedium results. Footnote: Garcia really should stop playing characters called Fingers...



David Quinlan

USA/Mexico 2007. UK Distributor: Pathe. Colour.
95 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 11 May 2008