A movie based on a true story, with no violence, no sex, no thrilling action, no international political intrigue, it is quite amazing that "Air" can be so entertaining. Contributing to the success are all the parts that make up the whole. The best is the teaming up of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck again, after they served notice in 1997 with "Good Will Hunting" that two major talents had arrived in the cinematic universe, to stay. A solid supporting cast is another reason (which I'll come to later). The dialogue is simply wonderful, well written and brilliantly delivered. Under Afflecks' deft direction, the pitch-perfect pacing renders this 111-minutes movie into an absolutely delightful cinematic experience.
The story, as the movie title suggests, is about "Air Jorden", the most-coveted sports shoes of all time. The year was 1984, as one characters quips "Mr. Orwell was right about this year". Not a good year shaping up for Nike, it would appear, having a 17% market share, way behind competitors Adidas and Converse. And you don't need me to tell you the rest of the story. With one master stroke, recruiting expert Sonny Vaccaro (Damon) seizes victory from the jaws of defeat, by signing up number 3 draft pick of the Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan, thereby saving the basketball divisions and all his colleagues working there.
You don't need Ben Affleck to tell you either, but he tells it in such a wonderful way that it is a joy to follow his reenacting of the scenes, almost entirely indoor, with people just sitting or standing, and, talking! Through these scenes, the long friendship between Sonny and Nike co-founder (now CEO) Phil Knight (Affleck) becomes lovingly palpable.
And he also takes care to go into the heart of the story in detail: how Sonny recognizes the "greatness" of Jordan and how he convinces his colleagues. Sonny is shown watching two TV screens, simultaneous, in a room by himself. The regular TV shows a tennis racquet commercial, with Arthur Ash endorsing it. The "work" TV shows the tape of an important shot Jordan made, one that basketball fans would have seen over and over again in one occasion or another. Suddenly, as if hits by lightning, he jumps up and runs to enlighten his colleagues on what just dawned on him. I wouldn't pretend to be and expert. What Sonny notices (which everybody misses) is the shot by Jordan is completely planned, so that the ball would be in his hands at that very moment in that very spot. What Sonny brilliantly observes is that just three seconds before he will be making the most important shot in his life, Jorden looks entirely relaxed and confident. And that, from a skinny 18-year-old freshman, spells greatness. Just like Ash endorsing the tennis racquet, having Jorden endorse a line of specially designed shoes will guarantee success. "A shoe is just a shoe, until someone steps into it". And when that someone is Michael Jordan, the rest is history.
On the excellent support cast, first comes inimitable Jason Bateman ("Ozark") playing marketing director Rob Strasser, who initially has doubts about Sonny's intuition about Jordan, but soon becomes a believer. Chris Tucker takes on a well-casted role of player-turned-company-man Howard White, providing further support to Sonny with his rapid-fire dialogue. Scene-stealing is Chris Messina playing fiery agent David Falk who, upon learning that Sonny has gone behind his back to approach Jordan's mother, takes the four-letter word into a new height in a phone conversation. Top of the list, without the slightest doubt, is Viola Davis playing the mother. We have seen her brilliant performance in many emotion-charged scenes. Here, she demonstrates that, with absolutely cool composure (almost minimalistic) she can move us even more.
The story, as the movie title suggests, is about "Air Jorden", the most-coveted sports shoes of all time. The year was 1984, as one characters quips "Mr. Orwell was right about this year". Not a good year shaping up for Nike, it would appear, having a 17% market share, way behind competitors Adidas and Converse. And you don't need me to tell you the rest of the story. With one master stroke, recruiting expert Sonny Vaccaro (Damon) seizes victory from the jaws of defeat, by signing up number 3 draft pick of the Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan, thereby saving the basketball divisions and all his colleagues working there.
You don't need Ben Affleck to tell you either, but he tells it in such a wonderful way that it is a joy to follow his reenacting of the scenes, almost entirely indoor, with people just sitting or standing, and, talking! Through these scenes, the long friendship between Sonny and Nike co-founder (now CEO) Phil Knight (Affleck) becomes lovingly palpable.
And he also takes care to go into the heart of the story in detail: how Sonny recognizes the "greatness" of Jordan and how he convinces his colleagues. Sonny is shown watching two TV screens, simultaneous, in a room by himself. The regular TV shows a tennis racquet commercial, with Arthur Ash endorsing it. The "work" TV shows the tape of an important shot Jordan made, one that basketball fans would have seen over and over again in one occasion or another. Suddenly, as if hits by lightning, he jumps up and runs to enlighten his colleagues on what just dawned on him. I wouldn't pretend to be and expert. What Sonny notices (which everybody misses) is the shot by Jordan is completely planned, so that the ball would be in his hands at that very moment in that very spot. What Sonny brilliantly observes is that just three seconds before he will be making the most important shot in his life, Jorden looks entirely relaxed and confident. And that, from a skinny 18-year-old freshman, spells greatness. Just like Ash endorsing the tennis racquet, having Jorden endorse a line of specially designed shoes will guarantee success. "A shoe is just a shoe, until someone steps into it". And when that someone is Michael Jordan, the rest is history.
On the excellent support cast, first comes inimitable Jason Bateman ("Ozark") playing marketing director Rob Strasser, who initially has doubts about Sonny's intuition about Jordan, but soon becomes a believer. Chris Tucker takes on a well-casted role of player-turned-company-man Howard White, providing further support to Sonny with his rapid-fire dialogue. Scene-stealing is Chris Messina playing fiery agent David Falk who, upon learning that Sonny has gone behind his back to approach Jordan's mother, takes the four-letter word into a new height in a phone conversation. Top of the list, without the slightest doubt, is Viola Davis playing the mother. We have seen her brilliant performance in many emotion-charged scenes. Here, she demonstrates that, with absolutely cool composure (almost minimalistic) she can move us even more.