"Air" is a rousing true-story entertainment in spite of well-known outcome

Air (2023)

Ron Howard’s “Apollo 13” remains the prototype for dramatizing a true story in an engaging, crowd-pleasing fashion, even if we already knew those astronauts would land on the Moon. Director Ben Affleck’s “Air” follows a similar approach in that the story’s outcome is a forgone conclusion: Michael Jordan would become an NBA basketball superstar and have a Nike sneaker (the Air Jordan) designed for him and of him. It’s also always impressive when a film about something as unsexy and seemingly dull and less-than-cinematic as sabermetrics (“Moneyball”), economics (“The Big Short”), or even journalism (“Spotlight” and “The Post”) can be made into compelling mainstream entertainment. Getting there—and seeing how the sole was made—shouldn’t be as compulsively watchable, rousing, and swiftly paced as it is, but “Air” just does it.

In Beaverton, Oregon, 1984, Nike is on the precipice of bankruptcy due to running shoe sales and competition with Converse and Adidas. Talent scout and salesman Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) begins his hustle when noticing the North Carolina guard as a once-in-a-generation talent. Against the wishes of Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight (a curly-headed Affleck in arrogant yet Zen-like mode) and just about everyone else, Sonny decides to show up at the Jordan family’s house in Wilmington. Will Michael Jordan finally sign with Nike and change the worlds of sports, pop culture, and footwear? Don’t cheat and Google it.

Is “Air” a cinematic puff piece that gives Nike, Inc. a pat on the back? Yes. Or, is “Air” an accessible crowd-pleaser for adults about a behind-the-scenes process and the minutiae that goes into making deals on the phone and in boardrooms? Also, yes. With a lesser director, this material could have been rendered prosaic and/or smug, but Ben Affleck (having won a Best-Picture Oscar for 2012’s well-made, engrossing “Argo”) has amassed a robust, expertly cast ensemble and works from a smart, slyly funny script by first-timer Alex Convery. Affleck’s direction is utilitarian but solid and enlivened here and there with swooping crane shots and whip pans by cinematographer Robert Richardson (Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino’s longtime collaborator). He also casts himself without much vanity and gives one of his best buddies the most attention.

This is Matt Damon’s show all the way, the rest of the cast still enriching a whole tapestry with snappy, crackling give-and-take. As the doughy Sonny Vaccaro, Damon is all gumption and persuasion in a deeply honest way, even to the point of selling a pitch to the Jordan family that has “Oscar clip” written all over it. He’s a bulldog, but Damon conveys a real decency in Sonny. His conversations, both in person and on the phone, with a terrifically wise Viola Davis, as Michael’s proud and protective mother Deloris Jordan, has the viewer hanging on every word. Jason Bateman is hilariously glib, as always, and gets one sliver of vulnerability involving his divorce and custody of his daughter as marketing VP Rob Strasser; Chris Messina gets a great, profane tirade on the phone as Jordan’s agent David Falk; the typically fast-talking Chris Talker returns to the screen as gregarious player-turned-exec Howard White; and character actor Matthew Maher is an endearing dark horse as quirky, savant-like shoe designer Peter Moore. 

Just from its opening, the film may get carried away in evoking the 1984 time period. We get a montage of Princess Diana, a “Where’s the Beef?” ad, Rubik's Cubes, and the original “Ghostbusters,” just to remind us that it’s…1984. But that does mean we get a wall-to-wall soundtrack of recognizable ‘80s needle drops by Night Ranger, Cyndi Lauper, REO Speedwagon, Big Country, and Bruce Springsteen, as well as repurposed pieces from movie scores by Pino Donaggio (Brian De Palma’s “Body Double”) and Tangerine Dream (“Risky Business”). From the production to the costume design, the film is sterling from a craft perspective; as a collaborative director on his fifth film, Affleck really knows who to have in his corner behind and in front of the camera. 

“A shoe is just a shoe, until someone steps into it,” becomes the film’s most memorable line. It sounds like a corny, feel-good cliché for the trailer, but like all of “Air,” it just works in how it’s sold like a well-earned pitch. If the film doesn’t fully explore the exterior lives of its characters—even Michael Jordan, himself, is kept as a mythical man without a face or without saying a word (after all, no one could play Michael Jordan, except Michael Jordan)—“Air” remains straightforward and focused on the story it wants to tell without meandering. Even if it’s just shy of greatness, here is a rarity: a worthwhile story that gets the worthwhile treatment it deserves on screen.

Grade: B

Amazon Studios is releasing “Air” (112 min.) in theaters on April 5, 2023.