In telling the story of one of the greatest endorsement deals, if not the greatest endorsement deal of all time, Air has certainly set a high bar for itself. It’s pretty fitting, because once upon a time Nike was no stranger to courting gutsy athletes, starting with gone-much-too-soon track star Steve Prefontaine, who served as the company’s first marketing manager, although he had to be paid in shoes. One of Nike’s mantras was “Always play offense.”
In 1984, however, Nike had become stagnant, pegged as a company for runners only, and they were trying to start up a basketball division. At the center of this effort was Sonny Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon. Sonny knows Michael Jordan is everyone’s best bet, but he’s got plenty of hoops to jump through if he wants to even get close to eighteen-year old Adidas fan Jordan, who has every shoe company beating down his door. Nike must do something different.
One night Sonny sees Arthur Ashe in a commercial talking about how his new tennis racket was designed with him in mind, and he has a revelation: Why not design a shoe around Michael Jordan?
We all know how that little idea turned out.
Jordan’s agent, David Falk, drives an extremely hard bargain, but Sonny makes an end road around him by going straight to Jordan’s parents, something everyone tells him could end his career.
Sonny goes anyway. Mrs. Jordan in particular is a very savvy woman, and Sonny gets her attention by telling her how the meetings with Adidas and Converse will go. If he’s wrong, the Jordan family can forget all about meeting with Nike.
We all know how that little idea turned out as well. David Falk cussing Sonny out for his clandestine tactics is where Air earns its R-rating.
The performances in this movie are pitch-perfect in every way. It’s always great when longtime friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck share scenes, and although Affleck’s role as Nike co-founder Phil Knight is relatively small, he and Damon always have a unique way of reading each other as actors. Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser is excellent as well, bringing a touch of wry humor into the proceedings. I also enjoyed seeing Viola Davis as Mrs. Jordan because she’s so steely-eyed and protective of her son. It’s fun seeing her staring Matt Damon down across a picnic table when Sonny visits the Jordans.
Air does a really good job of putting the audience into 1984, albeit in a slightly ham-fisted way. Every time we turn around, we see something from that year, such as someone wearing leg warmers or playing Trivial Pursuit, or we hear songs such as “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits. It’s good for context but it doesn’t have much to do with Air, and after a while it feels like gilding the proverbial lily.
I liked how visible Steve Prefontaine is in the film, although he’s never named. His photo is prominently in the background of several key scenes, as if he’s a ghost of triumphs past.
He’s a lot more visible than Michael Jordan, that’s for sure. Whenever the actor playing Jordan is in a scene, even if the other characters address him directly, he doesn’t answer and his face is always shaded. It’s especially strange in the conference room scenes, because we all know schmoozing and business deals generally mean shaking hands with people, greeting them, looking them in the eye, that kind of thing, and obviously that doesn’t happen.
I’m guessing this was done for continuity with the photos and archival footage Air shows of the real Michael Jordan, which is understandable—there’s no way an actor is going to be able to duplicate Jordan (Heck, professional basketball players nowadays can’t duplicate Jordan, either). In the movie, though, this shading just makes Jordan feel godlike rather than human. Like the way Jesus was portrayed in Ben-Hur, only maybe a little rude.
Yeah, yeah, OK, there are those who would argue Jordan is sort of godlike, but we’re gonna digress. Anywhoo…
I’ll be honest: I’m really not a fan of Nike nowadays. For one thing, politics seem more important to them than sportsmanship and excellence, which means the company as it was founded no longer exists. It wasn’t too hard to shelve that opinion when watching Air, however, because Affleck, Damon, and the rest have done themselves proud.
Air is currently in theaters and streaming on Amazon Prime. Rated R.
My grade: A-
Principal Cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Damina Delano Young, Chris Tucker, Matthew Maher, Gustaf Skarsgard, Barbara Sukowa, John Mohr
Directed by Ben Affleck.
Written by Alex Convery.