Air - Der große Wurf

This was a nice surprise. After the shaky Live By Night in 2016 (which I think was affected more by executive meddling than anything else), Ben Affleck took a break from directing, and now has a mini comeback of sorts with Air. It's been about a decade since I watched his other films (Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo), but I remember liking them quite a bit, and enough to say that Air feels like a return to form for Affleck as a director.

It's most comparable to Argo in that it takes an interesting story from history, and gives it a classic Hollywood level of polish that makes things a bit snappier, more entertaining, and a little funnier, too. Here, it's all about Nike trying to partner with a young Michael Jordan in the mid-80s. I know nothing about basketball, but have always known Jordan and Nike go together. So the film's only likely to be suspenseful for those who've been living under particularly large rocks for a particularly long time, but it's not so much the what that's interesting, but the how.

The cast all give very strong performances, and between this and The Last Duel, I have to say that I think Affleck's even better in supporting roles than lead ones. It moves well and kept me interested for nearly two hours, even though the story on paper wasn't one I thought I'd find interesting. That's the sign of a good movie, sometimes.

However, Air's not quite a slam dunk. The writing takes some jarring shortcuts here and there, and keeping this under two hours also made for some occasionally weird edits. And the soundtrack may have laid it on a little thick at times (but hearing two Violent Femmes tracks was cool, and not only is Bruce Springsteen discussed in dialogue, but he's also in the soundtrack, which is always a win in my book).

Affleck and Damon haven't had a big win in a while, but they made a good movie together here and I hope it does well. It's worth seeking out for the clean, efficient, and all-around solid entertainment it provides.

We need more films like this right now. No agenda. No politics. Just an interesting (and true) story that entertains us. Write some dialogue, grab some cameras, get solid actors, and go to work. There's nothing complicated in this film. There no mystery to solve, no giant set pieces, just a fantastic time on the screen. The 80s are shown a ton of love in every aspect of the film. I am liking Matt Damon more as an actor as his career moves on. He's not above setting his star power aside and concentrate on being an actor and it works so well here. Too much can never be said about Ben Affleck as a director. He's one of the best working right now. As solid a movie as you will ever watch.

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.

After finishing this film, I couldn't shake the idea that there was a better film in there. I'm not 100% sure, having seen it so recently, what would be needed to bring out that better film, but I suspect it may have to do with the choice not only to NOT center Michael jordan, but to have him as an incidental fringe character in the film altogether. It's an interesting choice to include his mother and her perspective, but it still feels like this is a story about the wrong people. Not that all of these people shouldn't have been included in this story, but that the exclusion of Jordan and his perspective leaves a little bit of a hole. All of that said, it was an enjoyable enough watch and if you live through this period of time or have a passion for the shoes now, you'll probably find it interesting. Viola Davis is of course, amazing.

Nike are now synonymous with sports and sportswear, and Adidas's great rivals, however it wasn't always that way and this little film explains how they did it.

This film started off as a made for streaming movie, small(ish) in scale and with a decent but not spectacular budget. However the casting of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (both in front of and behind the camera) really brought it up to another level. Whilst the final result still feels like a glorified TV movie, Damon is excellent as usual and for once Affleck doesn't seem to be punching above his weight as an actor. This is actually a very well made and acted film, although the slight story may not be to everyone's taste.

Viola Davis and Julius Tannon also turn in a good performances as Michael Jordan's devoted parents. There are also solid turns from Chris Tucker (looking a few pounds heavier than the last time I saw him in anything worthwhile) and Jason Bateman amongst others.

It's an interesting subject matter and I enjoyed the soundtrack too (many 80s songs of my youth) although it does have a lot of swearing so may not be appropriate for all. Ben Affleck is a very capable director and this is another good movie from him. If you enjoyed more recent biopic films like 'The Founder' and 'Steve Jobs' then you should enjoy this.