In 1998, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote a movie to give themselves lead roles and add to their acting reels. The movie was the Oscar-winning “Good Will Hunting.” After it kickstarted both of their careers and set them on the path to becoming two A-list actors, 25 years later, they’ve returned to write and star in another movie together.
“Air,” directed by and featuring Affleck, tells the story of how Sonny Vaccaro, played by Damon, and Phil Knight, played by Affleck, convinced Michael Jordan to sign with Nike in 1984. While the audience knows the outcome of Nike’s push to land Jordan, the film depicts Vaccaro desperately trying to sign the Adidas-bound future superstar.
The film opens with some context for the non-sneakerheads in the audience by explaining that even though Nike was a billion dollar publicly traded company, they were the third choice shoe-sponsor for basketball players. Converse dominated the industry with the three best NBA players signed to their roster. To add insult to injury, Nike’s board of directors was actively looking to shut their basketball division, effectively firing Vaccaro and his colleagues Howard White, played by Chris Tucker, and Rob Strasser, played by Jason Bateman.
We then follow Vaccaro and Strasser as they give up on signing Jordan initially, but after continuously rewinding grainy footage of MJ, Vaccaro comes to the conclusion that he must do whatever it takes to sign Jordan.
From start to finish, the combination of an engaging script and top-tier actors make the movie captivating. Affleck’s Phil Knight is a great depiction of the eccentric businessman and Bateman’s Rob Strasser represents a sympathetic side to the often light-hearted script. Tucker is great in the film and his interactions with Damon are incredibly funny. While the movie as a whole is very funny, Messina, playing Jordan’s agent, David Falk, almost steals the show — the entire theater could not stop laughing during a conversation between himself and Vaccaro, after Vaccaro approached Jordan’s mother to meet with Nike.
In addition, Viola Davis, playing Dolores Jordan, puts in one of the best performances of the movie, selling the importance of Jordan’s mother in his life. Jordan also personally requested that his mother’s actor be Viola Davis and that she’d have a much bigger role, according to Affleck in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Davis undoubtedly deserves award consideration for her performance.
While Sonny Vaccaro isn’t the most interesting character, Damon makes him compelling. His pitch to Jordan, combined with the montage of Jordan’s career, is genuinely inspiring. His speech is one of the only times when he is genuinely serious, starkly contrasting the usual sarcastic nature. Just like in “Good Will Hunting,” Damon and Affleck’s chemistry is off the charts and their characters are each other’s confidants.
Now how did Affleck address the 6′6″ 198 pound elephant in the room: Michael Jeffery Jordan. Notably, the film never shows Jordan’s face and he only has one real speaking line. It fits the film’s premises — that Michael Jordan is a larger than life figure. Since Michael Jordan is the first athlete to have his own signature shoe, he’s different from all other NBA players. But what really demonstrates that Jordan is a larger-than-life figure is a quote that the characters of the film repeat at different times: “A shoe is just a shoe until someone steps inside it.”
While it has strong moments and sharp humor, “Air” is not without its drawbacks. It lacks a real feeling of stakes since the audience knows the result of Nike’s pitch. It tries to convey what is on the line through Strasser’s personal life, but even upon learning about Strasser’s family issues, Vaccaro doesn’t undergo changes because of it.
What’s worse, the film’s depiction of the process by which Nike landed Jordan plays fast and loose with reality. For instance, in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “Sole Man,” which describes the life of Sonny Vaccaro, a different story is told about how Vaccaro convinced Jordan to sign with Nike. The story goes that he and George Raveling, played by Marlon Wayans in the film, convinced Jordan to sign with Nike. In the film, we see a conversation between Vaccaro and Raveling in which Raveling tells Damon and the audience about Jordan’s reluctance to meet with Nike and a funny anecdote about Martin Luther King Jr. The film’s ending makes reference to the fact that Jordan credits Raveling with convincing him to sign with Nike.
Whether or not this movie tells the true history of the deal, it is undeniable that the film is entertaining. Its under 2-hour runtime and the sharp script keeps the film moving. This is definitely a film to see in theaters and it will likely get a lot of Oscar buzz come next year.
“Air” is currently playing in theaters.