A shoe company is on the verge of irrelevance when Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon) goes all-in on trying to get college phenom Michael Jordan to sign an endorsement deal. Phil Knight (Ben Affleck) and Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) baulk at the idea of giving the largest athletic endorsement deal in history to an athlete who’s never played a second of professional basketball. Vaccaro thinks outside-the-box and courts the Jordan family through unconventional methods in order to get the deal done.
Alex Convery writes and Affleck directs what should be a boring film. Think about it: how does one take a story about sports marketing, property rights and celebrity endorsement – and one that everyone already knows the ending to, by the way – and make it compelling? It’s nothing short of astounding that the entire runtime of 112 minutes has drama, comedy and gravitas when dealing with an otherwise dull premise.
The performances are where this movie shines… and suffers. Damon settled into his character quickly, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon are completely believable as Jordan’s parents and Chris Tucker was perfect as Howard White, an executive whose character was included in the film at the request of the real-life Jordan. Regardless of their acting, too key cast members were distractions. Whether he was on screen for 12 seconds or six minutes, I never saw Nike CEO Knight, only Affleck. In addition, as fun as Bateman’s inclusion is, he’s basically playing himself. I understand his supporting role doesn’t exactly need emotional range or a dramatic take but it’s too on-the-nose.
Despite its imperfections, Air is the best movie of the year so far and Convery is on my early ballot for Best Screenplay. If you’re a sports fan, sneakerhead, a child of the 70’s or 80’s – or none of those things – Air is worth your time.
JKG SCORE: 8.0
Untitled Film Project 