Written by: Alex Convery
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker
Rating: [3.5/5]
When a company becomes this juggernaut that dominates a particular industry, seeing them as an underdog puts into perspective exactly what they did to reach their current level. Thinking of basketball shoes and anything other than Nike feels strange, but the courting of Michael Jordan changed everything for them and involved a level of belief and risk-taking to pull it off. As by the numbers as one could expect, Air manages to hit the proper beats to tell an entertaining story that drives some intrigue.
Struggling to make waves in the basketball shoe arena, Nike entrusts talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) to sign a player that can make a discernible difference. While going through the available players and the limited budget to sign them, Sonny decides to lay it all on the line for one particular kid coming out of the University of North Carolina, Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
The relationship Nike has built with Jordan has made an impact like no other in the shoe industry, as it would be difficult to find an American that does not recognize the Jordan brand. Some individuals with no interest in sports may not know Jordan as the basketball player, but at some point they have either heard of or seen a Jordan pair of basketball shoes, and that all began with the collaboration the famed basketball player had with Nike. One would think making a film of how these suits at Nike convinced Jordan to sign with them would serve as a great antidote to insomnia, but Ben Affleck would never make something that did not at least entertain.
As with several of these types of films, there is typically someone who breaks the mold and in this case Sonny steps up to the plate. Whatever they did before certainly did not pay off the results they have been striving to achieve. Going into this last hoorah they were going down the same route of trying to attract the top talent that always leads to them failing in their pursuit. Sonny goes against the grain, a bold move, but one that if they get right could completely change the way the company operates within one of the most popular sports in the nation. History proves this approach as the right decision, but as seen through the film, it contained plenty of risk.
The deciding factor on whether they land Jordan essentially lands at the feet of his mother, Deloris Jordan, portrayed by the always-great Viola Davis. She ultimately serves as the gatekeeper of who even gets the opportunity to present to her son. Sonny has to entice her with this opportunity as much as he will eventually have to do with her son, which further reveals what she values and wants for her son. Seeing what Nike has to offer as opposed to Adidas and Converse further illustrates the standing of each of these companies at the time, and then seeing the eventual shift to our current times puts things into perspective. Focusing so much on Deloris Jordan pays respect to her, but also serves as one of the more important decisions this film made in not really casting someone as Michael Jordan. For as much as this film centers on the idea of Jordan and his iconography, the most we see of him is the back of his head and never his face. It makes sense considering the film focuses on what it takes to land someone like this athlete, and having a young actor stand in as a young Jordan with minimal lines to give would have done no one any good. Affleck makes the right choice here, and therefore also continues to highlight the individuals that helped bring this together and assist Jordan build this iconography.
By hitting every beat one would expect, Air has Ben Affleck showing in high form once again as a filmmaker. He brings together quite the robust cast of the aforementioned Matt Damon and Viola Davis, but we also get some hilarious work done by Chris Messina, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, and himself as well portraying Phil Knight. Everything about this film can be summarized as crowd-pleasing and it certainly hits all the right points to assist in crafting something anyone can turn on and enjoy.
Films with Josh 
