Air is a biographical sports drama directed by Ben Affleck and written by Alex Convery. The film is based on true events about the origin of Air Jordan, a specialized Nike basketball shoe line. Basically, an employee contemplates, against all odds, striking a business deal with rookie player Michael Jordan. From the moment I saw the coming attractions for Air, I knew I had to see the movie. I’m happy to report, Air did not disappoint. Well done!
In 1984, Oregon-based Nike, Inc. was on the verge of discontinuing its basketball shoe division due to low sales and giants like Adidas and Converse who dominated the basketball shoe line. As a last-ditch effort, Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), along with co-founder and CEO Phil Knight (Ben Affleck), tasked Nike’s basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) to come up with a new spokesperson for Nike basketball shoes.
While considering the basketball players chosen in the 1984 NBA draft, Nike’s executives didn’t consider third pick Michael Jordan because they knew Jordan was a fan of Adidas and he was too expensive for Nike’s basketball division’s meager budget. While reviewing Jordan’s highlights in conjunction with an Arthur Ashe commercial for his Head rackets, Vaccaro becomes convinced that Nike should pursue who he considers a generational talent, with both brand and athlete building off each other. Following dinner with his friend George Raveling (Marlon Wayans), who coached Jordan in the Olympic tournament, and asking for his support in courting the star, Vaccaro travels to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he convinces Michael’s mother Deloris (Viola Davis) that Nike would give Jordan all the attention that he would not get from his preferred brands Adidas and Converse.
And so the journey begins with Vaccaro carrying out every trick in and out of the book to pursue Michael Jordan and develop an outstanding basketball shoe that would look and outperform any basketball shoe in existence. The dialogue was very clever with Vaccaro making a couple of speeches for the books. The bottom line meant several heads would roll and jobs could possibly be in jeopardy if he failed to sign Jordan. Air has a stellar cast with convincing performances. For those who are not big fans of the sport, the basketball games were just highlights from the past. We didn’t get to actually see Michael Jordan, as he was not in the film but we did get to learn how productive the line of one basketball shoe is, in terms of revenue. Michael Jordan earns $400M a year on the basketball shoe alone and is worth 2 billion 200 million US dollars, that’s $2,200,000,000. Air is an enjoyable, story based on true events and is currently in theaters but soon to stream on Prime Video. Check It Out!
As of April 20, 2023, Air has grossed $36.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $21 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $57.3 million. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 279 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website’s consensus reads: “A fact-based drama that no one will dunk on, Air aims to dramatize events that changed the sports world forever — and hits almost nothing but net.”
BTW: Although Michael Jordan is not in the movie, he did meet with Ben Affleck and offered several suggestions, including the casting of Viola Davis as his mother. Julius Tennon, Viola’s husband played Michael Jordan’s father in Air.
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