200. Air; movie review

 

AIR

Cert 15

112 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language

It requires very skilful film-making to make riveting viewing of a story of which everyone knows the outcome.

So, applause to Ben Affleck because both Mrs W and I were glued to Air - the tale of how a Nike basketball shoe was sold to Michael Jordan.

But this is not another picture about the highest-paid athlete of all time - instead, it concentrates on those who believed in his greatness before he had proved it.

Matt Damon stars as the dishevelled Sonny Vaccaro, Nike's talent scout who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of high school and college basketball players.

His job is to identify the next big thing and bring him into the Nike stable but many mistake Sonny's focus and passion for egotism.

Thus, he faces internal as well as external hurdles when he insists on spending the entire basketball budget trying to secure a contract with young Jordan.

The unconventional chase for the rookie's signature is the essence of Affleck's film with nice offshoots about business philosophy and loyalty.

Damon is great as Veccaro, supported admirably by Affleck as Nike's founder and CEO, Jason Bateman as its head of marketing and Chris Messina's as Jordan's foul-mouthed agent.

Viola Davis also kills it as Jordan's very single-minded mother.

Air is tense but had laugh-out-loud moments and is played out to a superb 1980s soundtrack including Big Country, ZZ Top, Run DMC and The Clash.

The real-life Veccaro says that it is totally true to life and the wacky characters are not exaggerated.

It all adds up to one of the best movie experiences of 2023 so far.

Reasons to watch: Riveting true story

Reasons to avoid: Everyone knows the ending

Laughs: Four

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? Sonny Vaccaro was fired from Nike in 1994 because he was planning on pursuing other business plans that didn't involve the company. 

The final word. Ben Affleck: "It was really, really unusually satisfying. I don’t often take a lot of, probably not enough, healthy amount of pleasure and things that go well given that this business is a lot of ups and downs. But in this case, I really felt like I was sitting on a kind of creative treasure trove of performances and that I would share with people and I was like, “Gosh, everyone was really so great." Complex

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