Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Viola Davis
Writer: Alex Convery
Year of Release:2023
Ben Affleck is back behind the cameras ( in front of them too) and he is set to deliver his comeback project through an array of imposing figures like Viola Davis and his buddies Chris Tucker, Matt Damon etc.
Enters Air, the said project and a biographical sports drama about how Nike took off through an ordinary unlikely partnership with Micheal Jordan.
Sonny Vaccaro(Matt Damon) is the marketer for the flailing basketball division of Nike and has hit the point where his relevance is under scrutiny.
Sonny is desperate for a miracle, and he gets one when a scene of Micheal Jordan in a playback video becomes an aha moment. But if finding a solution was difficult, getting everyone- his boss, his colleagues, Micheal Jordan, his manager, and Jordan’s mom, Deloris- to buy into this aha moment is going to be like squeezing water out of stone.
For Micheal Jordan, Adidas(Nike’s rival brand) is the next best thing since sliced bread. For his manager, Nike does not have the kind of deep pockets he aspires to get for his client.
There’s Deloris, who has to protect her son from people who may want to take him for a ride. There’s also Phil Knight, Nike’s boss, who thinks signing one basketball player for the price of four is the last thing his drowning brand needs.
Walls. Walls. Walls. Jericho walls. And Sonny Vaccaro has to scale them all.
From the movie itself, we can assume that the aim is to inspire but if we wanted further conviction, another way to verify will be to hear from the horse’s mouth- the cast and kerewu in Jenifa’s voice.
Tell me why the said cast goes about their media rounds, oohing and ahhing over black excellence and how Delores changed the game for players when in fact there is no testament to that in the movie.
This woman in the 80’s who plays such a pivotal role in the history of basketball through her killer negotiation skills gets on with just a few lines. Her son who is also a hero in this story gets insignificant screen time.
Not to mention that, (according to rumors) Deloris was never going to be included in the story had Jordan not insisted and strongly proposed that Viola Davis be the one to play the role.
Looking through it all, it’s almost as if Ben Affleck and his buddies upped and said “Just Do It” and did- in a bad way.
This is not to say Air is not okay to watch. It will inspire you to be a go-getter as both Nike and Jordan got what they both wanted in the end.
But it selectively tells the stories of some of the heroes and that stinks.
Air rates a 5/10 at Xploreollywood.
Have you seen Air? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section!
