I don't give a shit about basketball or sneakers or narratives which centre capitalists as champions. Air is pretty much everything I couldn't care less about in a movie. But Affleck is a very compelling film maker and his film with its incredible cast almost... and I do mean almost... won me over to care about all of this.
This is the story of how the Nike corporation entered into a business deal with a young Michael Jordan (or perhaps more accurately, his family) which set them both up to make millions (which might be an understatement. It is filmed like a sports movie with all the inspirational speeches and competitive tropes that genre has in its stable. It all feels rather constructed and self-reverential to be honest but it overcomes so much of its short comings by having a talented director and a compelling cast which just make you want to watch.
There are some dubious choices in this film like its constant need to remind us that we are in 1984 with every potential 80s reference one could squeeze into a movie of this runtime, and the decision to never let us see Jordan despite him being in many scenes. This leads to awkward camera set ups which keep us from looking at the subject and more often than not pull us out of the film.
But once again the cast pulls off a miracle here, especially Davis who has been known to appear in movies in small roles yet save them with her screen presence. She does that here as well and Air ends up scoring despite pretty much everything phoney about it.
So while Air may not have been my cup of tea, Affleck and his cast made me at least interested enough to get me through it. Perhaps for those who are far more into basketball and sneakers might just care a bit more than I did.
Air: Courting a Legend
Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, Matthew Maher, Ben Affleck
Director: Ben Affleck
Writer: Alex Convery
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