Air (2023)

Rating: 8.9

TL;DR - Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are back at it again with Air, a terrific slam dunk of a film that, while familiar, is exactly what you want out of a movie! A genuine crowd-pleaser with some excellent writing, direction, acting, pacing, and one hell of an 80s soundtrack! Best sports movie since Moneyball! Sure we all know the ending, but it’ll have you pumping your fists in the air by the end!

---

Film Info:

Premise: Sonny Vaccaro and Nike pursue basketball rookie Michael Jordan, creating a partnership that revolutionizes the world of sports and contemporary culture.

•

Amazon Studios / Warner Bros

Directed by Ben Affleck

Written by Alex Convery

Cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker

Runtime: 1hr 51min

Rating: 14A

Drama, Sport

•

IMDb Rating: 7.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

RT Audience Score: 98%

RT Critic Average: 7.8/10

RT Audience Average: 4.7/5

Metacritic Score: 75

CinemaScore: A

Letterboxd: 3.8/5

•

Fun Fact: Amazon originally planned for the film to get a streaming-only release on Prime Video. The film was screened for test audiences and scored much higher than anticipated, prompting Amazon to give the film a theatrical release in the United States.

---

Review:

written by Tyler Park

You can’t go wrong anytime Matt Damon and Ben Affleck team up on a project. Since their debut in Good Will Hunting, they have proven that they are at their best when working together. Air is no exception to that!

But before I get into my full review, I just wanted to bring up a story about this movie I read in Variety a few days before the film’s release. This film is based on a speculative script (a script written to be sold, or, a script not commissioned by a studio) written by Alex Convery. Before this, he had never had a script produced — this is his debut screenplay. When Ben Affleck came on board as a producer and director, he took a few passes of his own at the screenplay, which naturally worried Convery about his status as the sole screenwriter on the project. He worried that he, as “F-list talent” would be pushed out as Affleck and Damon made changes, Jason Bateman (as an award-winning director himself) changed his role a bunch, Chris Tucker’s character was pretty much completely his own invention, and Viola Davis improvised one of the best lines in the movie. It would be common for Convery to only get a co-writing credit at best, maybe only a “Story by” credit. But, on the last day of filming, Ben Affleck took Convery aside and said “We’re not going to arbitrate, we are going to give you sole credit. Look, it was a spec script. It was your story. When [Affleck and Damon] were coming up as writers, so many people gave us the benefit of the doubt and gave us a chance. They paid it forward and we’re going to pay it back.” Affleck remembered the opportunity he was given with Damon on Good Will Hunting, and I think this is quite a nice story that is reason enough to go out and support this movie. This film is the first from Affleck and Damon’s new production company, Artist’s Equity, where their aim is to be more talent friendly and expand profit participation, letting all the artists share in more of the profits. I also find it really interesting that this story from the real-life production of the movie actually relates really nicely to the thematic subject matter of the story in the film. Affleck made a movie about how a corporation's brand is inherently valueless without the people who give it meaning (and deserve a bigger cut), while using big streamer money to remarkably get his crew paid at industry record. So kudos to Ben Affleck for making a great movie and doing it the right way! Now, in case you aren’t the type to see a movie just to support the artists behind it, let’s get into my thoughts on the movie itself!

Air is a near perfect crowd-pleaser! It is a terrific film; a triumph; a slam-dunk of a film (pun intended). While it is familiar and doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before, it never made me once feel like I had seen it already! It is the kind of crowd-pleaser you go to the movies for; it delivers everything you want from it! Air is one of those precious films that captures and holds your attention for the entire runtime, it is perfectly paced and tells an incredibly engaging story. Ben Affleck reminds us he is a natural in the director’s chair, telling a non-conventional underdog story that I never knew I wanted. He soars as a director here, rivaling his work on Argo (which I perceive to be his best work). Affleck knows how to craft a compelling narrative while pulling powerful performances from his actors. Not only did he authentically capture the essence of the 80s within the opening montage of all the great athletes and name brands from the decade, but he kept those references throughout. Plus, he loaded this movie with one hell of an 80s soundtrack! Affleck amazingly turns hours of dialogue about sneaker budgets into rousing, crowd-pleasing cinema, and he makes business meetings engaging, tension-filled events, transforming what easily could've been a shoe commercial into an emotional lesson about why athletes (and artists) matter.

I expected Air to be about Nike trying to win over Michael Jordan with a cool shoe, and instead it's mostly about the uncomfortable economics around how we commodify not only products but people, and what greatness is worth. It's surprisingly sophisticated in what it has to say. Newcomer Alex Convery wrote the screenplay with charm, wit and passion for the Nike brand and Michael Jordan. The script also boasts rapid fire, Aaron Sorkin-like dialogue which was a treat to see delivered from such talented actors.

The experience of watching Good Will Hunting co-stars Damon and Affleck on the screen together again is always its own reward, but everyone in the ensemble cast portraying the key figures behind the launching of the lucrative Air Jordan shoe-line brings just as much to the table by accentuating how the company put everything at stake for a gamble that paid off. The well-rounded ensemble cast here is incredible; everyone delivers standout performances. All these actors knew the importance of Jordan’s story, and you could feel that Affleck and his team wanted to do this right. The film is fast-paced and exciting to watch because of Matt Damon’s performance as Sonny Vaccaro — Damon embodied Vaccaro; you could feel his energy shift when he started talking about Jordan and what it would mean for the brand in an incredible monologue near the climax of the film. Viola Davis, who played Deloris Jordan, stole the spotlight in the second half when she spoke on behalf of her son. The film shifted from a corporate, capitalist ideology to a more intimate, family story because Vaccaro went for heart over greed. He bet it all on Jordan, and Deloris Jordan could tell the difference from other executives. I loved scenes between Damon and Davis, they really did such a good job selling the negotiations as well as this thematic material. The heart of this film lies in those two performances, without them this film would not have worked quite as well.

This movie is fucking awesome. (Excuse my language.) It’s an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser about big risks and big rewards, turning phone calls and contract negotiations into a breezy, satisfying story! The script is fantastic and has some of the biggest laughs of the year, all delivered by an all-star cast! Enjoyable whether you’re a Nike fan or not, this film is well worth your time! Even though we all know the ending, Air gives us something to cheer for in this fist-pumping story! I genuinely didn’t want it to end! The movie truly has it all, managing to be both entertaining as hell as well as cinematically excellent. Trust me, you’ll love it!

Let me put it this way — if Top Gun: Maverick was the “dad movie” of 2022, Air is the “dad movie” of 2023. And I mean… we all loved Top Gun didn’t we?

---

Trailer: