Director: Ben Affleck
Actors: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Ben Affleck
Genre: Drama
Rating: M
‘Air’ (as in “Air Jordan” shoes)
is Ben Affleck’s 5th time directing, and while not as good as ‘Gone
Baby Gone’, it’s slightly better than ‘The Town’ and ‘Argo’, and certainly better
than ‘Live by Night’. In my opinion, he’s a far better director than he is an
actor. Which is good, because he has an important role as Phil Knight, CEO of Nike,
but too much screentime. The main star here is Sonny (Damon), who’s Nike
basketball talent scout, and works with Rob (Bateman, mostly-serious), Howard (Tucker,
good to see him back) and Peter (Maher) in Nike’s Portland headquarters in the
mid-1980s.
Together, they set out to make
something of Nike’s floundering basketball division, with all their revenue
coming from selling running shoes, and being out-performed by Converse and
Adidas. While Michael Jordan is central to the story, they specifically don’t
show him at all, as this is the start of his journey to super-stardom – he’s
represented by his mum, Deloris (Davis, always great), dad (Tennon) and agent David
(Messina).
While it’s about negotiating a deal,
that’s not the only focus, with most emphasis on Sonny and his relationships
with his bosses, Jordan’s agent and parents and others in the real-world. Reminds
me a bit of Damon’s performance in ‘Ford v Ferrari’ and how the film brings to
life the passion and drama behind professional sports. It’s serves as a good
companion piece to ‘The Last Dance’. Some good moments of levity – including the
ending – some good 80s songs, some touching moments and all over in under 2
hours.
Overall: Solid acting, directing and
writing make a film about a shoe interesting
Gav's Rating: 4 stars
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