'AIR' Movie Review: An ensemble act with solid dependable performances

It’s now 25 years since the duo, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, is back together in 'AIR', the story of how an everyday man took Nike into the realms of becoming the mega business it is today

Film: AIR
Cast: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Damian Delano Young, Matthew Maher, Gustaf Skarsgård, Barbara Sukowa, Jay Mohr, Joel Gretsch, Michael O’Neill, Marlon Wayans
Director: Ben Affleck
Rating: 3/5

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon hit gold when they were out-of-work actors with no prospects, way back in 1997. The movie was ‘Goodwill Hunting’ and was based on Affleck’s script. It’s now 25 years since, and the duo is back together in 'AIR', the story of how an everyday man took Nike into the realms of becoming the mega business it is today.

The film follows Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball. The Nike recruiting expert recognized the young North Carolina guard as a once-in-a-generation talent and pursued him relentlessly to keep him from Converse and Adidas, much more in-demand brands then. In 1984 he signed up the then-promising 18-year-old Michael Jordan to a shoe deal at a time when it was Magic Johnson who was the reigning king of Basketball. And the rest is history. Michael Jordan went on to become a superstar and arguably the greatest basketball player in the history of the game… and Air Jordan, the shoe and the line that gives the film its title, became the best-known and most-coveted sneaker of all time.

Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, Affleck as Nike co-founder and former CEO Phil Knight, Jason Bateman as director of marketing Rob Strasser, Chris Tucker as player-turned-executive Howard White, Chris Messina as Jordan’s agent, David Falk, Viola Davis as Jordan’s proud and protective mother Deloris and Matthew Maher, as Nike’s idiosyncratic shoe design guru Peter Moore, make the most of this ensemble act. The soundtrack stitches this enactment into the 80s with hits from Violent Femmes, Dire Straits, Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan, and Night Ranger, playing at eventful moments. 

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This is a movie about processes - may not be the thriller you were expecting. The script by Alex Convery makes it seem like the impossible can be got. It’s Sonny’s conviction that comes through clearly here. His belief in his own ability to broker a deal when most skeptics would have laughed out loud makes his effort heroic. This is a solid, mid-budget movie where strong writing and dependable acting are the cornerstones. Quentin Tarantino’s collaborator Robert Richardson, the cinematographer, embellishes the rest even though much of the movie is shot inside offices, conference rooms, and production labs. 

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