Boston’s favorite son Ben Affleck has spent the better part of the past decade lost in the wilderness. After winning Best Picture with Argo, he was cast as Batman in whatever the hell was going on at DC, a move that sent him spiraling. While being meme’d every time he stepped outside, Affleck has been trying to figure out what he’s supposed to do next. After marrying JLo and resurrecting Bennifer, he’s decided to start a new production company with his best friend Matt Damon called Artists Equity, founded on profit-sharing between directors, actors and all below-the-line crew members. Air is the first film produced under this venture, a historical dramadey about everything it took to sign a rookie Michael Jordan to Nike, creating the most profitable sneaker deal in history. In the vein of Moneyball, Affleck brings a love of basketball to boardroom scenes, sending Damon running around the country to convince the Jordan family that the struggling Nike is actually his best option before the NBA season begins. It’s a true-blue movie for adults, no superheroes allowed except the man who changed the sport of basketball forever. And we don’t even see his face!
The year is 1984. After an opening sequence featuring some of the most famous consumer products and advertising of all time (“Where’s the Beef,” the Apple commercial, and a ton of plastic junk), we meet Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), a Nike shoe salesman who alternates between scoping out rookie talent and blowing his money in Vegas. The NBA draft is coming, and if Nike doesn’t sign a decent player soon, purple-loving, barefoot CEO Phil Knight (Affleck) will be forced to shut down their basketball division. With a tipoff from Coach George Raveling (Marlon Wayans), Vaccaro hones in on Michael Jordan, the current third place draft pick. Working around Jordan’s agent David Falk (Chris Messina), he decides to meet the Jordans in their backyard, appealing to them directly. Deloris Jordan (Viola Davis) and her husband James (Julius Tennon), are skeptical at first, but agree to give Nike a shot. From here, Vaccaro works day and night with his team, including director of marketing Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), vice president Howard White (Chris Tucker), and shoe designer Peter Moore (Matthew Maher), to design the iconic Air Jordan, a huge gamble that Knight opposes but cannot bring himself to shut down. It would seem impossible if it’s not what really happened.
Air moves fast, jumping from scene to scene as Vaccaro balances everything on the edge of a cliff. Jordan looms over the film without even being seen; Affleck rightly knows that there is no one else like him and any young actor would simply be distracting. The focus is on everyone around him, especially his parents. This is a quintessential sports story, despite how basic the premise may sound. By the time Matthew Maher is doing a monologue about his dream to design the perfect basketball shoe, you’ll want to stand up and cheer.
Air is about much more than a sneaker – this is also the story of Ben and Matt creating their new company. They’re stepping back from the superhero industry, focusing on a real life legend, and making a riveting adult drama without special effects or explosions. This is all a film needs to be, and we’ve forgotten that. Air deserves its theatrical release as much as the tentpoles, and I’m sure it will have a huge audience starving for something that isn’t Marvel. Also, Phil Knight may be a weird guy, played perfectly by Affleck, but thanks to him Laika exists, which means Coraline exists. Thanks Nike!
Air
2023
Dir. Ben Affleck
112 min
Opening Wednesday 4/5 at Coolidge Corner Theatre, Somerville Theatre, and theaters everywhere
