Air - Movie Review

Critics Score - 8 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

Every year there are usually one or two films that people will take their dads to see, which means they’re mainstream movies that appeal to everyone, but especially to a certain demographic. Last year we had Top Gun Maverick, a few years ago it was Ford V Ferrari, and virtually anything that has Tom Hanks is in, we lovingly call these films Dad Movies. Right out of the gate for 2023 we get one of the best dad movies of the year with the new movie from Amazon Studios, Air. Air recounts the time in history when the basketball shoe market was coming into it’s prime and companies were jockeying for position to add the hot new sports stars to their list of celebrity endorsers. When Michael Jordan was about to enter the NBA draft, a hidden war was taking place between rival shoe companies as they tried to get him and other players to sign deals with their companies. From director Ben Affleck, who also appears in the film, we get a fast paced, interesting, behind the scenes look at the courting of a celebrity by a brand name company. Now, it could be possible basketball just isn’t your thing, maybe you don’t like Michael Jordan or wear Nike shoes, but can you smell that? There’s a fascinating story in the Air for any that want to give this movie a chance.

SYNOPSIS - This blast from the past opens with a montage of movies, commercials, posters, popular tv shows and news stories from the world that was 1984. From Ghostbusters to gas prices in the one dollar range, from Cabbage Patch kids to cassette tapes, from MTV to Mr. T, that wacky decade had it all. We then meet Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), a middle aged overweight man who specializes in discovering basketball talent, he’s at a high school basketball game scouting young players. After the game concludes, he’s greeting players and giving out free Nike shoes to promote the company he works for. Next he catches a flight to Vegas, places a handful of sports bets on the NBA Finals game that night, then returns postgame to receive a handful of cash, thus establishing himself as a basketball guru. He drives to work what we presume to be the next day and we see the Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon, and some onscreen text informs us of what the basketball sneaker market share was in 1984. Converse controlled 54%, Adidas 29% and Nike a mere 17% of the market share, setting the stage for the film that is to come, the world before Nike was the behemoth footwear retailer it is today.

As Sonny shoots some tiny basketballs into a mini basketball hoop on an office door with colleague Howard (Chris Tucker), who’s explaining to Sonny how hot Adidas are right now, all the rap stars and break dancers are wearing them. We then enter a meeting where one of the management member Rob (Jason Bateman) leads a discussion of the NBA draft class of 1984, generally considered to be one of the greatest of all time. Shoe companies are falling all over each other in an effort to sign future Hall Of Famers like Akeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton to their brand, Nike is no exception. The company is at a loss because it has a company fund of $250,000 to sign players, which isn’t much, and they’re debating who to go after. But that evening, Sonny sits down and watches Jordan playing in the NCAA college championship, he watches him make the winning shot, pauses, then rewinds and watches again. He goes into work the next day, convinced Jordan is the prospect they need to target, spilling to all in his management team about how he’s got a feeling about Jordan, that he was calling for the ball, how relaxed he was, the glimpse of greatness he saw. He tells the CEO Phil Knight (Ben Affleck), that “If we don’t make this deal, I don’t know where my place is at this company.” Sonny pursues Jordan relentlessly, despite the fact that Jordan has made it clear he’s not interested in Nike, going around Jordan’s rep and driving to Wilmington, North Carolina, to meet Michael’s mother Deloris (Viola Davis), to try and convince her to take a meeting with Nike. This meeting which she agrees to, opens the door to one of the greatest opportunities and sponsorships of all time.

One of the first things I realized when I was watching the film is how quickly it moves. Basketball was my sport growing up, I was never a huge Jordan fan, but even being a tad bit under two hours, the film is edited so well and flows in such a way that it’s hard to be bored, even if your not a big fan of the sport or person. The direction is also spot on. Affleck has a way of making movies that are so kenetic, they move and build momentum with so much ease, he really needs to direct more films. Even though nobody is going to be writing home about any of these performances, they’re all good, maybe not great, but unsurprising the chemistry between Affleck and Damon is off the charts, they work together so well. When they come up with the name Air Jordan and Damon drops it to Affleck, he says “I don’t know, maybe it’ll grow on me.” To which Damon responds “Air Jordan!? F**king fantastic!” It’s clear they had a great time making the film, the tone is light, fun and the results are entertaining as hell. Interestingly they never show Michael Jordan’s face, I was wondering if they’d cast another actor or maybe do some digital age regression, but they chose to leave his face out completely. There is also a slew of 1980’s classic rock tunes from REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger, ZZ Top and Mike + The Mechanic’s. Their songs play over key moments of the screenplay, it was a bit corny, but it adding some cheap fun to give all the dads in the audience the feels. In the end Air is a lot of fun and while it probably won’t land among my favorite films of the year, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better film to take your old man to this year.

SUMMARY - While Top Gun Maverick and Ford V Ferrari went on to receive Best Picture nominations at the Oscars, I would highly doubt Air will achieve that same feat. It isn’t quite as good as either of those two films, but it is still a very solid movie that most adult audiences can enjoy. So go ahead, breathe in the Air, just do it. Trademark pending.