Premier Video Night: A biopic on the world’s most famous sneaker!

What are you doing?

Sonny Vaccaro, Nike’s director of sports marketing, is relentlessly pursuing Michael Jordan to form a historic partnership with his sidekick, Phil Knight, the billionaire co-founder of Nike.

who is he with

Despite the number of iconic characters featured in this film, Air follows Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) as the main character. The name, of course, is little known to the general public, but is considered one of the first to discover the potential of one of the greatest champions in the history of American sports thanks to the exploits of the young Michael Jordan.

Although future Chicago Bulls number 23 is only seen from behind or in the background on screen (his face is never seen on screen), Air highlights the pivotal role his mother Deloris Jordan played in signing the legendary partnership. Note that the role of the latter was personally requested by Viola Davis from Michael Jordan.

The film’s director, Ben Affleck, also appears in a supporting role, but still a substantial one, as he lends his features to Nike founder Phil Knight.

Chris Tucker and Jason Bateman round out the film’s prestigious cast, in the respective roles of Howard White (current VP of Jordan Brand) and Rob Strasser (then the company’s chief marketing officer).

Is it worth checking out?

In 2020, Ben Affleck played one of his best roles as an actor in The Way Back, a feature film about the struggle against alcoholism led by a basketball coach who leads his former university team. A role that allowed the latter to re-emerge when his career again suffered setbacks due to his own drug demons.

Here he is back three years later, with a semi-biography dedicated to the greatest legend in the history of American basketball. This new breakthrough (his previous film Live by Night released in 2017 was a box office failure) gives the 50-year-old comedian an opportunity to rise from the ashes again, after several years when his personal life changed. Worse. More passionate about the community than his cinematic choices.

A success story in front of and behind the camera

For the fifth film as a director, Ben Affleck offers himself a secondary role, but still an important one, as he appears in the shoes of the iconic Phil Knight, the founder of the Nike brand. But the role that best represented his revival is undoubtedly the role of Sonny Vaccaro, entrusted to his best friend Matt Damon.

The marketing director of a sports affiliate, at the time the film takes place (in 1984), is a genius without a win. Considered both an industry visionary and a basketball expert, the latter decided to put his career on the line by choosing a young Nike university prodigy, then unknown to the general public, as the face of the new pair: Michael Jordan.

The career of the greatest basketball player of all time has been followed by many documentaries, starting with the fascinating Netflix series The Last Dance. But the peculiarity of the film is that it follows the career of the future six-time NBA champion before his professional debut.

While there was little doubt at the time that this college prodigy would leave his mark on the professional world of basketball, Air gives us a glimpse of the pressure on Michael Jordan’s shoulders even before his official debut.

But his parents – and especially his mother, Deloris Jordan (Viola Davis) – were also instrumental in landing him one of the most lucrative advertising contracts of all time.

A biographical film that does not lack air

The sports aspect of the story is the most interesting attraction of the film. With a flawless cast and a script that meets the most academic biopic codes, Ben Affleck didn’t want to take any chances.

For example, it is surprising that the manufacturing conditions of Nike shoes in developing countries are the subject of only faint hints, as well as the complete absence of political context.

Which would have allowed us to immerse ourselves in the 80s with much more efficiency than by providing the original soundtrack, which covers ad nauseam the greatest hits of the time.

It’s also a shame that the script doesn’t delve deeper into the personalities of its characters. The stakes of the scenario are essentially limited to the game of stop signing the deal, the outcome of which is not in doubt, as if there were still viewers who were ignorant of the existence of Air Jordans!

In the air, there is enough experience in front of and behind the camera to guarantee good film quality. Although none of his performers have reached his limit to make a performance at the top of the basket of his filmography.

In terms of the script, it’s hard not to be satisfied, and perhaps the addition of context or a simple point of view on the challenging story would have allowed the feature film to become more ambitious than a simple biopic, rather than what could be called an advertisement in disguise. One of the most famous brands in the world.

Air by and with Ben Affleck is now available on Amazon Prime Video.

Discover the list of all movies currently available on the platform!