The Ben Affleck film, ‘Air’ is set in the 1980s, a time when Nike’s profits were declining, employees were being let go, and 1984, in particular, was an awful year for the business with declining sales and growth. Signing Michael Jordan (MJ), a rookie basketball star at the time, was something of a gamble for a small firm that was suffering major growth challenges, which Phil Knight (Ben Affleck), Nike’s co-founder and CEO, believes can be solved by tapping into the basketball market.
The biographical drama centres around big-ticket endorsement deals, branding, marketing, boardroom battles, and acute rivalry in the sneaker-eat-sneaker world.
It tells the story of how one man’s unquenchable ambition changed the course of history for Nike, a company that didn’t have the athletic cachet or hip appeal of Converse, the dominant basketball shoe at the time, and revolutionised the entire sports sneaker business in the years that followed. ‘Air’ is the real-life account of Nike’s eventual signing of what may be the most illustrious and acclaimed sports partnership in history.
Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), a Nike executive, is determined for the young high-flying basketball sensation MJ to wear his company’s sneakers at a time when Converse was the official shoe of the NBA, but the Brooklyn young man prefers Adidas. MJ is basketball for Sonny, who wagers his career on the lesser-known Chicago Bulls player.
Sonny is a man so convinced in his hope of signing MJ that he never gives up, even when his idea is construed as crazy, inconceivable, and financially unattainable for Nike. He sets out to persuade MJ’s mother Viola Davis (Deloris Jordan, brilliant as usual) that Nike is the appropriate brand to collaborate with on a shoe.
Jordan informs his mother that he intends to sign with Adidas, with Converse as a second option, but Sonny “can’t take no for an answer” and is determined to entice him away from Converse and Adidas.
Sonny pushes Nike’s senior executives to gamble on an enormous opportunity and high degree of risk investing in the young basketball phenomenon. “A shoe is a shoe until somebody steps into it”, declares Sonny, and Viola asserts over the phone that “a shoe is a shoe until my son steps into it”.
As he tirelessly pursues Michael Jordan, Sonny expresses his unfaltering faith in him, something that nobody else but Viola knows MJ’s true worth.
Everything in the film builds to a slow-burning finale, and even though you know what is going to happen, you can’t help but be delighted as the drama unfolds. ‘Air’’s music transports the listeners back to the 1980s as Sonny tries to entice Jordan to a lucrative ‘Air Jordan’ deal.
Dire Straits’ ‘Money for Nothing’ sets the mood and is a big throwback to 1984, with Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’, Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time after Time’, Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’, and many other songs lingering in as the film progresses.
The entire cast was immaculate and impeccable, Viola was phenomenal as MJ’s mother and the person in charge of negotiations. But Matt Damon stole the show, particularly his delivery of that emotional speech about how “money can buy you almost anything. It can’t buy you immortality”, was remarkable.
It’s fun to see best buddies Affleck and Damon working together again, mocking and challenging each other in the film. With a fresh breath of ‘Air’, this film lives up to Affleck’s craft with stellar performances from an ensemble of stars, including a charismatic Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, whose hilarious chops enliven the film, and Chris Tucker, who injects the film with the necessary sense of humour, which will undoubtedly engage viewers other than basketball players and sports fans.
Movie: Air
OTT: Prime Video
Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis
