Brendan plays a chain smoking gangster in the film Credit: THINKfilm

Hunky Brendan Fraser's name is Pleasure. Uh, just how well do we actually know this actor? Not THAT well. We are referring to the name he and his story were given in the new Film Noir-ish movie The Air I Breathe. This creative film interlocks the stories of several people, all of whom represent a human emotion; Pleasure, Sorrow, Happiness and Love. That is not to say that the characters aren't dealing with the total opposite of those emotions as their short fables evolve.

Fraser plays a reluctant enforcer; a tuff guy with a kind heart who works for Fingers (Andy Garcia), a mobish kingpin who runs several rackets in a mythical big city. The twist to Brendan's character is that he can see into the future of everyone he comes across but is clueless when it comes to his own life. When he falls for the popstar diva he is supposed to be guarding, very well played by Sarah Michelle Gellar BTW, the thug has to deal with his strong feelings and a possible unpleasant fate.

Usually an action hero or a comic character in films (the "Mummy" movies or Encino Man, Blast From the Past, School Ties etc.), Brendan was happy and challenged to play a very mentally-tortured character, a man of few words carrying a load of pain. We were reminded that he has also taken on some very dramatic film faire in Crash, The Quiet American and Gods and Monsters.