Air is the story of how a struggling Nike in 1984, with virtually no basketball business, made a deal with Michael Jordan that would change the face of Nike, and sports marketing forever. While Ben Affleck and writer Alex Convery take a lot of creative liberties, most of the main aspects and events from the true story exist, in some form, in the film.
In 1984, Converse endorsed pretty much every big name in the NBA. Adidas was second to them and Nike had basically nobody. Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), Nike’s basketball scout, recognized a rookie coming out of North Carolina as the future of the NBA. Throughout the movie, Vaccaro relentlessly pursues Jordan through his agent David Falk (Chris Messina), and his mother Deloris (Viola Davis). Vaccaro also spends a lot of the movie trying to convince his coworkers what he already knows: if they can land Michael Jordan it won’t just save their basketball division, it will rocket them ahead of the competition.
Vaccaro’s boss is Phil Knight (Affleck), the eccentric co-founder and CEO of Nike, who at the time, would walk around the office barefoot. Nike’s director of marketing Rob Strasser, played by Jason Bateman, is often credited with revolutionizing sports marketing but early in the movie, he is one of the skeptics Vaccaro has to convince. Another Nike executive who needs some convincing is Howard White (Chris Tucker).
But how do you make a movie that even those who have never watched a basketball game know the ending of and still make it interesting and entertaining? Alex Convery’s sharp script and Affleck’s calculated directing are how. The ‘80s nostalgia hits even though I never lived through it. All the performances are great, Viola Davis and Matt Damon in particular. What makes the movie work really well as a story we already know is the focus on people and process. Even non-basketball fans know who Michael Jordan is and they know about the shoe that is synonymous with him. Many will also know of some of the people involved; Sonny Vaccaro, Phil Knight, Rob Strasser, Howard White, Deloris Jordan, etc. Affleck’s focus on the people who made the deal happen and the process they took to bring Jordan to Nike is what keeps the movie engaging and very entertaining.
Vaccaro brings the project of building a shoe around Jordan to Nike’s shoe designer Peter Moore (Matthew Maher), who is another fantastic addition to the cast. The process of designing the shoe and the conversations around even the color is very intriguing. At the time, the league had a rule that at least 51% of players’ shoes had to be white. The Nike team had an idea to create a colorway of the shoe that was almost all red and black (Jordan had already been drafted so they knew he’d be a Chicago Bull). Jordan would be finned $5,000 every time he wore them on the court. Strasser has a line in the film about how they can capitalize on the league saying Jordan is “too colorful” and just pay the fines as it’d be great marketing for the shoe.
While the movie centers around Michael Jordan, we only get a few quick shots of the back of his head and a faceless line over the phone. Affleck’s decision to leave Jordan essentially out of frame for the entire movie isn’t just the right choice, it’s the only choice. Jordan’s presence is felt throughout the entire movie. His singular aura would be nearly impossible to replicate on screen by an actor. The way he’s talked about though, and the way he makes those in the film feel and act does live up to Jordan’s real-life essence. Affleck spoke in an interview recently about how he went to Jordan with the idea and asked for his blessing. Even the way Affleck talks about their meeting shows how powerful the presence of Michael Jordan is. There were three things Jordan insisted upon, George Raveling (Marlon Wayans) and Howard White had to be included in the story, and his mother had to be played by Viola Davis or the movie couldn’t be made.
The idea of Jordan and what he means to not just basketball, but all sports and even the world as a whole, is something only the man himself could portray. So his physical absence (with the exception of shots of the back of Damian Delano Young and a couple of words spoken over the phone) actually adds to his untouchable persona. It even adds to the theme of “courting a legend” because the mere mention of him carries so much weight. There are real Jordan highlights sprinkled throughout, which help add a sense of authenticity. In all, the movie is chock full of excellent performances and touts a classic feel-good underdog story anyone can enjoy, regardless of how familiar with sports or the real story you are.
R | 1h 51m | 4.5.2023
Genre: Drama, Sports
Director: Ben Affleck
Writer: Alex Convery
Cast: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon
Ryan’s Score: 92/100
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% Audience, 92% Critic (as of 4.11.2023)
Watch the trailer here: