Air

Directed by Ben Affleck

★★★★

Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro and Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan

Credit: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

Filename: SMAN_2023_FG_00435809_Still257R_(2)_700.jpg

There seems to be a renowned interest in crowd-pleasing, bio-pic(ish) films as of late. Not all of them do well (Stardust), and some are just downright terrible (Blonde). But for every negative, there are three to match that are either good movies or perform well with audiences, both in theaters (Elvis, I Wanna Dance with Somebody) and on streaming services (Weird, Tetris).

The latest film to follow this trend is Ben Affleck’s Air, which, much like Tetris, follows the legalities and backdoor deals of an extremely popular ‘80s IP. Affleck’s latest flick follows the courting of Michael Jordan by a, then, third-rate shoe company called Nike as they compete with the ‘big dogs’ Adidas and Converse.

Matt Damon plays the audience conduit, Sonny, a gambling-addicted, risk-taking employee of Nike who is willing to put his and his co-workers' jobs on the line by relentlessly pursuing Jordan and, more specifically, his mother, Delores (Viola Davis).

Affleck’s assured direction is a high point for the film. Despite the over-reliance on 80’s marketing nostalgia, he really taps into the humans that the story revolves around. Specifically Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, and Viola Davis’ characters. He makes a somewhat daring decision never to show Michael Jordan’s face, nor have him speak a word, but this decision is probably Affleck’s strongest asset, allowing the film to breathe and not crumble under Jordan’s massive celebrity stature.

Air mostly shines, however, because of its ridiculously talented cast. Damon, Affleck and Bateman are reliably great and Chris Tucker has a welcome return to the screen. But the two biggest standouts are, obviously, Viola Davis, who is able to take the smallest of dialogue and character from the script and explode it into a fully-formed, matronly figure. Additionally, Chris Messina has one of the funniest, scene-stealing moments in the past few years.

The film succeeds by interweaving humanity and humor throughout the course of the legal meetings and corporate jargon. We know how this ends, and we know what becomes of Nike and Air Jordan, but Affleck is able to somehow effectively keep the audience on edge. Damon continues his crowd-pleasing trend as of late (Ford v. Ferrari, Stillwater) and headlines a film that is sure to set the box office on fire.