Review | Air movie review: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon in sneaker drama that could use more direction … and more Michael Jordan
- This film charts the birth of the Air Jordan shoe, a sneaker that helped turn Nike into a multibillion-dollar international brand in the mid-1980s
- Affleck directs and stars with Matt Damon and Jason Bateman but, despite its fun lines, the story is aimless – and oddly devoid of Michael Jordan as a character
2/5 stars
You read that right. Directed by Affleck (Argo) from a script by Alex Convery, the film charts the genesis of the Air Jordan sports shoe, a market disrupter that helped turn Nike from a small-town no-hoper into a multibillion-dollar international brand in the mid-1980s.
At its centre is Nike talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Damon), douchey boss Phil Knight (Affleck), marketing expert Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) and their team.
Sick of playing second fiddle to the likes of Adidas and Converse, they make a bold gambit to sign 18-year-old future NBA star Michael Jordan (Damian Young) by designing a shoe to fit his personality, rather than the other way around.
Taking its cues from slick, Y-chromosome films such as Moneyball, Air starts out offering an entertaining glimpse behind the curtain of big business. Damon brings a low-wattage warmth to the central role, and it is nice to see him and Affleck facing off.
There is plenty of scurrilous industry gossip and some good lines, such as when Howard (Chris Tucker) asserts that, “Black people don’t jog!”.
Elsewhere, however, Convery’s script feels like a collection of sound bites in search of a film. “I’m willing to bet my career on Michael Jordan,” says Sonny, conveniently for the trailer editors. “This is what I do!”
Affleck’s direction, meanwhile, is muted to the point of anonymity. By necessity, a lot of the film takes place in identikit offices and bars, but shots of passing clouds just add to the general sense of aimlessness.
Interrupting the action to repeatedly remind us of Nike’s founding principles does not contribute much in the way of structure. And a jukebox soundtrack of 1980s hits such as Money for Nothing by Dire Straits and REO Speedwagon’s Can’t Fight this Feeling does not compensate for the lack of real engagement.
But the oddest decision is to keep Jordan himself mostly off screen, so crucial meetings with his mother (Viola Davis) and father (Julius Tennon) only show the back of his head.
If, as Rob reminds us, “a shoe is always just a shoe until someone steps into it”, making a film about one of the greatest athletes who has ever lived while keeping him out of it could be seen as the biggest gamble of all.
