April 10, 2023 · Watch the trailer
A film starring Matt Damon, directed by Ben Affleck and featuring numerous Emmy and Oscar winning talent should have enough star power, but there’s a big absence in Amazon Studios’ first major awards season contender that’s exceptionally noticeable from the outset.
The docu-drama about a formulative time in the athletic career of the most recognizable sports star of all time doesn’t feature an actor playing Michael Jordan, let alone show his face, over the course of two hours.
It’s a striking decision to frame a feature around such a compelling figure without including him in the narrative, but Affleck crafts a film that has real energy to maintain audience engagement and pull viewers into the world of competitive business strategy in similar ways to dramas like “Moneyball” and “The Social Network.”
“Air” follows the journey of then-upstart shoe company Nike as its basketball division led by a middle-aged sad sack scout seeks to land a contract with Jordan before he plays a single game in the National Basketball Association. The film leans into heavy nostalgia for the early 1980s from the opening extended montage through slightly grainy cinematography and a tone-setting soundtrack of classic 80s hits.
Damon centers the film with a compelling everyman performance as head basketball scout Sonny Vaccaro as the A-lister easily melts himself into the role of audience stand-in and while it’s unlikely that moviegoers should find themselves rooting for a corporation on track to make billions, “Air” and especially Damon lean into the camaraderie and personal relationships between co-workers who are friends first.
Affleck sometimes feels as if he’s in a different movie than the one he directs when he’s on screen as Nike founder Phil Knight. His performance is exceptionally eccentric and broad, with most of his dialogue setting up or being a dry joke that helps provide levity to the narrative. But in a strange way, Affleck’s avantgarde personality blends quite nicely with the eclectic ensemble and helps create needed narrative tension.
What really elevates “Air” beyond a standard male-centric docu-drama is Viola Davis’ arresting, scene-stealing supporting performance as Delores Jordan, Michael’s mother. While it’s clear why Michael would insist upon the Oscar-winner playing his mom, Davis elevates what otherwise might have been a throwaway part with a relentless command of the screen.
Davis challenges Damon’s Vaccaro at every turn with a calm demeanor that reflects Delores’ intense confidence in her son’s talent as well as the historic nature of what a deal would mean for African American athletes navigating white-dominated corporate business contracts.
“Air” also features terrific supporting work from Jason Bateman as Nike’s marketing director, Chris Tucker in his most dramatic turn since “Silver Linings Playbook” as the director of player relations and Chris Messina as a smarmy agent looking to thwart Nike at every turn.
Affleck uses the most of Amazon’s spending power to assemble not only a terrific ensemble cast, but exceptional talent behind the camera to help create a dynamic, yet quintessentially 80s world for “Air.” Every bit of production design, set dressing and costuming is meticulous and thorough to transport audiences back in time.
The film’s visual aesthetic developed by Affleck and cinematographer Robert Richardson starts off a bit jarring as it feels incredibly dated, but as “Air” progresses, audiences grow accustomed to the grain and it becomes clear that Affleck intends viewers to see everything through the lens of 1984.
“Air” is probably the only major contender for awards that will come out in the first half of the year, but it likely doesn’t have the staying power to last a year-long campaign in many categories. Davis in supporting actress and production design have the best shot of maintaining buzz long enough to potentially win.
Ardent cinephiles looking for something to check out on the big screen would be hard pressed to find a better adult drama this spring than “Air,” though more casual audiences might want to wait until the film’s inevitable prominent status streaming on Amazon Prime.
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