Air - Der große Wurf

I'm a pretty big fan of films that revolve around the behind-the-scenes drama of professional sports. Films like Air will always grab my attention and become a must-see in my mind. For that reason alone, on top of knowing that Ben Affleck directed it, I had high hopes as well. After seeing it, I'm happy to say that I had a great time at the movies. This supremely written film deserves your attention and here's why.

Decades ago, the company of Nike wasn't worth all that much and not many athletes even wanted to be sponsored by them. Air tells the story of Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), a man who is on the verge of his career ending, when he gets the crazy idea to put the entire good will and fortune of the Nike brand at risk. He risks everything to try and get Michael Jordan to agree to sign with them, thus designing what is widely known now as the Air Jordan shoe. It's a very simple story about a man who knows the potential of something, while everyone around him thinks what he wants to accomplish is impossible. It's an underdog story that's not even directly about an athlete and it's done incredibly well.

The star of this film is easily Alex Convery. You haven't heard of him? Well, until today I hadn't either. He is the screenwriter of this film and the dialogue from start to finish is what took this film from the generic true story category to something that's a must-watch. This is his first screenplay, ever. Yes, a film that I will currently call my favourite of the year so far, was written by a guy who had never written a feature film outside of this one (at least none that got made). Hearing about this just made me ludicrously excited that people still get chances taken on them in Hollywood. Convery wrote a terrific screenplay here and I hope he continues to get work.

Ben Affleck does a great job directing this film, getting fantastic performances out of everyone involved. Matt Damon is committed and it's one of his best performances in years. Jason Bateman's dry humour is all over this movie and I couldn't get enough of it. Viola Davis as Michael Jordan's mother was also great (as always), but who really stood out to me as the MVP was Chris Tucker. He's both funny and hits all the dramatic beats his character required. I haven't seen him in a meaty role like this in a while and I was pleasantly surprised.

Look, I'm not about to sit here and say this is one of the best films of all time or that it's groundbreaking in any way, but Air just ticked all the boxes of enjoyment for me. Well-acted, well-written, well-directed, it's fun to watch and even though you know how the story ends, it's still very engaging. For non-sports fans or people who don't know about sponsorships and how they work in professional sports, I think Air is still a movie for you because it never showcases any actual Basketball (other than on a television) and the inner workings of this company is just interesting in general. Air is now playing in theatres and I think many people will enjoy it. I absolutely recommend this one.