The movie breaks down human emotions into four cornerstones; Happiness (Forest Whitaker), Pleasure (Brendan Fraser), Sorrow (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and Love (Kevin Bacon). Meek bank clerk Happiness overhears 3 co-workers in the bathroom about a fixed horse race named Butterfly. He's fascinated by butterflies and bets $50k on the horse borrowing from gangster Fingers (Andy Garcia). The horse goes down in an accident. Fingers threatens to take his fingers if he doesn't pay in 2 weeks. Pleasure is his mysterious bank customer who breaks into his house and gives him a gun. He uses the gun to rob his bank and is killed. Pleasure is collecting for Fingers with Fingers' loud-mouth nephew Tony (Emile Hirsch) as his new partner. He has a special ability to get glimpses of other people's future. Fingers just got the management contract for Sorrow (stage name Trista) and asks him to look after her. Tony gets into a fight and Pleasure is severely beaten. He is brought into a hospital treated by Love. Love is trying to save his unrequited love Gina (Julie Delpy) who needs a rare blood type. She married his best friend Henry (Clark Gregg).There are a lot of great actors struggling to find their way in a disjointed story. The rotation of the various characters leaves the movie without much rooting interest. There are too many problems with this movie and Jieho Lee's directions don't have enough life. The story is too calculated and Andy Garcia is forced to overact too much. When Brendan Fraser's character dies, the movie loses the most compelling point. There's a nice wrap to the various story threads but I lost interest by then.

This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. How is this rated 7 by living breathing humans. This fact alone makes me seriously question the validity of creating the human race. How can this movie be rated a 7? Are people that silly that they could glean some sort of cinematic enjoyment from this? There is literally no plot whatsoever. There is no likable characters. I don't care if this is @based on some Chinese proverb@, that doesn't make it deep. Where is the Chinese proverb for crappy movie? He who does not have a brain shall enjoy brainless movie? I admit it started off half-decent , but after 10 minutes and when the guy robs the bank that has got to be the most stupid and uncalled for scene in movie that is actually trying to take itself seriously.

The Air I Breathe is the directorial film debut of Korean-American filmmaker Jieho Lee, who co-wrote the script with Bob DeRosa. In this powerful film, four very different people on the edge of desperation are unexpectedly linked by their destinies. A top-notch cast featuring Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Emile Hirsch unforgettably brings to life the stories of a clairvoyant gangster, a rising pop star, an unlikely bank robber and a doctor desperate to save the love of his life.The concept of the film is based on an ancient Chinese proverb that breaks life down into four emotional cornerstones – Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow, and Love. The proverb speaks of these emotions, not as isolated fragments of feelings, but as elements that make up the whole of the human existence. Each of the four protagonists is based on one of the four emotions; and like the proverb their paths are inextricably linked to each other, akin to the Fingers of a hand.A powerful crime boss, Fingers, subtly controls the destinies of four people whose circumstances have brought them to a crossroads in their lives. A quiet business executive is told that an upcoming horse race has been rigged and bets everything he has on his belief that the story is true. A noted pop singer discovers her career is hanging in the balance when she's forced to sever ties with her manager. A doctor must set aside a physician's traditional guidelines when circumstances demand he treat the woman he loves after a serious accident. And a criminal has a powerful vision of the future, but can't decide if his premonitions are to be trusted. Every so often a crime drama with delusions of existential grandeur comes ambling down the pike. Sometimes a philosophically-inclined filmmaker strikes cinematic gold. If video director Jieho Lee's erratic debut falls short of that estimable mark, he can't be faulted for lack of ambition. It is a jumbled Independent production that accomplishes little save for the squandering of a talented cast,who themselves could not help the film reach its potential.Each story has its moments but it lacks an overarching vision.Added to that,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.But inconsistent acting and clunky dialogue aside, it infuses conventional genre thrills with introspection to intermittently engaging effect.

First of all this movie is not a pure action movie ... i simply noticed it on the recommendation list after looking at the review for Snath (one of my fav) so after seeing the rating i thought due to the recommendation and a 7.1 avg, you would think its a decent movie of staying in.let me say something before anything...i never considered Brendan Fraser an actor of any sort. he kinda came along to me as those actors that do those simple comedy movies. i kind liked him in Crash but he didn't capture my attention that well. but her i was simply blown. he truly captured that essence u look for in a movie where u can really spot the talent of an actor. he presented every emotion with brute force.yet this movie doesn't revolve around Brendan's character. you might think it revolves around Fingers (Andy Garcia) for he is the glue to all the characters in the plot. its about life and he chances that come along. it is deep, as deep as Crash but without the racism.this movie is a complex one, and i believe its worth your while for it is a love story combination of crash. it has one hell of a plot and a smashing ending. not the type that you would expect from thriller movies but the type where you might shed a tear in the end.this is a movie to be remembered yet, it had no hype....what a shame a perfect 10