Breathing Room

1996

She's Kathy, a comix cartoonist; he's David, teaching English to new immigrants. It's New York City, with 29 shopping days left until Christmas, and they're in love. Or are they? Their romance has been on-again, off-again because David can't bring himself to say, "I love you." He can say it in French, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, but not English. So, when she learns at an inopportune time that he's applied for a job in Ho Chi Minh City, she asks for breathing room until Christmas; the film chronicles the ensuing days of restless indecision.