When I originally saw the trailer for “Air” I had to stop and ask myself why they made such a movie.
After all, waxing poetic about athletic shoes seemed like such a niche sort of topic and something sneakerheads would go wild to catch on the big screen.
In case you didn’t know it, “sneakerheads” are people who collect and trade sneakers as a hobby or sometimes – sort of like collecting Pokemon, but on a much more expensive level.
Still, I gave it a chance once I saw the full cast list and found it to have some pleasantly hilarious segments sprinkled throughout an otherwise boring movie for the masses.
Air is billed as an American biographical sports drama film directed by Ben Affleck and written by Alex Convery.
The film is based on true events about the origin of Air Jordan, a basketball shoe line, of which a Nike employee seeks to strike a business deal with rookie player Michael Jordan.
It stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Matthew Maher, and Viola Davis.
The flick is 112 minutes long and rated R for language throughout.
In 1984, Oregon-based Nike, Inc. is on the verge of shuttering its basketball shoe division due to low sales.
In response to this, Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Bateman) along with co-founder and CEO Phil Knight (Affleck), tasked Nike’s basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Damon) to come up with a new spokesperson for Nike basketball shoes.
While considering the basketball players chosen in the 1984 NBA draft, Nike’s executives think third pick Michael Jordan is off limits, being both a fan of Adidas and too expensive for the basketball division’s meager budget.
But once he watches some of Jordan’s highlights simultaneously with an Arthur Ashe commercial for his Head rackets, Vaccaro becomes convinced that Nike should pursue who he considers a generational talent, with both brand and athlete building off each other.
Following dinner with his friend George Raveling, who coached Jordan in the Olympic tournament, and asking for his support in courting the star, Vaccaro travels to the Jordan family residence in Wilmington, North Carolina.
That’s where he convinces Michael’s mother Deloris (Davis) that Nike would give Jordan all the attention that he would not get from his preferred brands Adidas and Converse.
After receiving a negative phone call from Jordan’s agent David Falk (Messina) regarding contacting his client’s family, Vaccaro learns that the Jordans have scheduled a meeting at Nike’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters the following Monday.
Vaccaro and Strasser start preparing their pitch while requesting shoe designer Peter Moore (Maher) to prepare a prototype, which Moore names “Air Jordan” after Nike’s Air Sole technology.
And really the rest is just history from that standpoint since we all know Jordan signed with Nike and is arguably the most legendary basketball player overall.
Or, something like that, I’m not a dedicated sports fan or sneakerhead by any means.
Overall, the flick is an entertaining romp, but not exactly something to run down and catch on the big screen – you’re better off waiting for Amazon Prime to stream it if you’re on the fence about it.
