Air Movie Review

Prepare for an excellent healthy, emotional and humorous look at life. This is a great movie. The beginning exposes its audience to 1984. To its politics, products, by way of its commercials, its music and its stars. I loved the memories it brought me.

Michael Jordan was a big part of those memories. But “Air” isn’t just about Nike wanting a basketball player to endorse their products. It’s about give and take, trust, honor and appreciation. This movie is so much more than you’d ever think it could be. Kudos to writer Alex Convery.

Reunited is director and award-winning Ben Affleck, who gets his friend and collaborator from “Good Will Hunting,” Matt Damon, to play Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro to his Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Damon is astonishing, but the rest of the cast is also out of this world, especially Viola Davis. She plays Deloris Jordan, Michael’s mother, and plays her perfectly. She was smooth and imposing, a dynamic yet steady hand in getting what her son deserved for his talent and for his future. Do you want Michael Jordan? You have to go through her. Good luck!

What a soundtrack! If you’re GenX or have a love for the music of the 1980s, that music plays throughout for obvious reasons, and it’s a blast. It was the music of the time, and it had me bouncing in my seat. I was singing a few times, I couldn’t help myself! Luckily the people sitting next to me weren’t too bothered. While I was tapping my feet, it was, of course, in a pair of Nikes.

Speaking of Nike, I’ve always had these shoes. It’s me! As a kid, it was about status. Now, I have them in fun colors and I don’t only get them for fashion; I wear them for comfort.

So, the numbers were down and it was Sonny Vacarro’s job to raise growth in the basketball market. Not known for being a big sports shoe, this would be challenging. Known primarily for being a running shoe, how was he going to find a big player to wear the shoe that was up against the king in those arenas, Adidas and Converse.

Sonny needed to go to Phil, who went public and now had a board to answer to and ask for more money. He needed this money because once he watched Michael Jordan play, Sonny knew he had to do whatever it took to sign him.

Phil wasn’t thrilled about the decision and Jordan’s agent David Falk, played wonderfully by Chris Messina, wasn’t sold on the idea either. But Sonny had a gut feeling. He believed in Jordan so much that he decided they needed to build a shoe around Jordan. That fit HIS foot. HE is the shoe. Then, the fans will want to have a part of that. They will buy the Michael Jordan shoe. This part is where the film’s best line comes in, again later used by Deloris Jordan to remind Sonny of her son’s worth, “A shoe is just a shoe until someone steps into it.”

Sonny stakes his career on Jordan. He goes directly to Jordan’s parents and pitches them. Luckily, the family agrees to come in for a meeting. Michael Jordan isn’t actually in the film. He’s only seen from the back, played by actor Damian Delano Young. That said, you will see him in archival footage. His presence would only be a distraction from the story. Your focus is in the work it took to get the AIR JORDAN shoe line to materialize.

There is so much GOOD in this film. I never thought I’d be so into a story about crafting the perfect shoe for an athlete and how the spectacular people in the basketball branch of Nike could care about their product. But I was entertained, I was touched and I was hooked. I can easily say this is the best film of the year so far. Well done! Be sure to watch the footage at the beginning of the credits.

SEE THIS TODAY!!!!!

AIR (Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) will be available digitally alongside the film’s global release date today, April 5. Information on the tremendous soundtrack – CD, cassette, and vinyl versions are scheduled to be released on June 2, June 23 and September 15 and may be pre-ordered HERE!!!