Air is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ben Affleck from a screenplay written by Alex Convery. It is based on true events about the origin of Air Jordan, a basketball shoeline, of which a Nike employee seeks to strike a business deal with rookie player Michael Jordan. The film stars Matt Damon, Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, and Viola Davis.
The project was announced in April 2022, with Affleck set to direct, as well as star and produce alongside Damon through their newly-formed production company Artists Equity. Filming took place that summer, with Affleck reuniting with his frequent collaborators, cinematographer Robert Richardson and editor William Goldenberg. While Michael Jordan was not involved with the production, he did meet with Affleck and offered several suggestions, including the casting of Davis as his mother. Originally set to premiere on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, distributor Amazon Studios opted to release the film theatrically first after positive test screenings, making it the first Amazon title since Late Night (2019) to be released in theaters without simultaneously premiering on Prime Video.
Air premiered at South by Southwest on March 18, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 5, 2023, by Amazon Studios. The film received positive reviews from critics, particularly for Affleck's direction, Convery's screenplay, and the performances of the cast.
Plot[]
In 1984, Oregon-based Nike, Inc. is on the verge of bankruptcy due to low footwear sales. In response to this, Marketing VP Rob Strasser, along with co-founder and CEO Phil Knight, task Nike's basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro to come up with a new pitch for a shoeline based on current American sports. 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 Vaccaro watches Jordan's highlights in conjuction with an Arthur Ashe commercial for his Head rackets, he becomes convinced Nike should pursue who he considers a generational talent, with both brand and athlete building off each other.
After going to Los Angeles to meet 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 household in Wilmington, North Carolina. He tells Michael's mother Deloris that Nike would give Jordan all the attention that he would not get from his preferred brands Adidas and Converse. After receiving an angry call from Jordan's agent David Falk regarding contacting his client's family, Vaccaro learns that the Jordans still 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 to prepare a prototype, which Moore names "Air Jordan" after Nike's Air Sole technology. In the meantime, Knight accepts to assign the basketball division's entire $250,000 budget to hire Jordan.
After a successful meeting with Jordan and his parents, Vaccaro learns that Adidas matched the $250,000 offer while adding a Mercedes Benz 380SL, and he thinks the deal will not go through. However, he receives a call from Deloris, who states that Michael will sign with Nike on the condition he earns a percentage of every Air Jordan sold. Even though Vaccaro thinks the company's higher-ups would not accept this bonus, once Knight is told he deems it necessary to ensure the endorsement. Title cards then reveal the Air Jordan exceeded Knight's expectations of $3 million in sales, earning $162 million in one year and becoming a steady source of income for Jordan.
Cast[]
- Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro
- Ben Affleck as Phil Knight
- Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser
- Marlon Wayans as George Raveling
- Chris Messina as David Falk
- Chris Tucker as Howard White
- Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan
- Matthew Maher as Peter Moore
- Julius Tennon as James R. Jordan Sr.
- Tom Papa as Stu Inman
- Joel Gretsch as John O'Neil
- Gustaf Skarsgård as Horst Dassler
- Barbara Sukowa as Kathy Dassler
- Jessica Green as Katrina Sainz
- Dan Bucatinsky as Richard
- Damian Delano Young as Michael Jordan
- Jay Mohr as John Fisher
- Al Madrigal as Tim
- Michael O'Neill as Joe Dean
- Trace Webb as extra
Production[]
The screenplay was written by Alex Convery in 2021, appearing on that year's Black List under the title Air Jordan. It was reported in April 2022 that the script had been picked up at Amazon Studios, with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon teaming to star in the film, while Affleck would direct.
Filming began in Los Angeles on June 6, 2022, with Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans and Chris Messina amongst several additions to the cast. Robert Richardson served as cinematographer, using the Arri Alexa 35 camera to film with. It wrapped up in July 2022. The same month, Joel Gretsch, Gustaf Skarsgård and Jessica Green were announced to be among the cast. The character of Michael Jordan is portrayed in the film, though his face is not seen and has limited dialogue.
Although not directly involved with the film, Jordan met with Affleck prior to the beginning of production and gave the project his blessing. The casting of Davis to play his mother was his idea. Jordan also requested that Howard White, vice president of Nike's Jordan Brand and his personal friend, be included in the film. This directly led to Affleck casting Tucker, with whom he had long wanted to work.
Release[]
Air was originally slated for a streaming-only release on Amazon Prime Video, but Amazon Studios eventually decided to release the film theatrically following strong results from test screenings.
Air was theatrically released in the United States on April 5, 2023, making it the first Amazon title since Late Night (2019) to be given an exclusive theatrical release. Warner Bros. Pictures handled the film's international theatrical and worldwide physical home media release. Amazon will also give the film a longer theatrical window before releasing it on Prime Video globally than their previous theatrical releases. This decision would also result in Amazon shutting down United Artists Releasing and folding its operations into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which Amazon acquired in 2022. The film closed out the South by Southwest festival on March 18, 2023.
Amazon spent $40–50 million promoting the film, including $7 million on an ad which aired during Super Bowl LVII.
Reception[]
Box office[]
As of April 9, 2023, Air has grossed $20.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $10.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $30.4 million.
In the United States and Canada, Air was released alongside The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and was projected to gross $16–18 million from 3,507 theaters in its five-day opening weekend. It made $3.2 million on its first day and $2.4 million on its second. The film went on to debut to $14.4 million (and a total of $20.2 million over the five days), finishing third at the box office; 49% of the audience was older than 35.
Critical response[]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 241 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "A fact-based drama that no one will dunk on, Air aims to dramatize events that changed the sports world forever -- and hits almost nothing but net." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 93% positive score, with 83% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper gave the film four out of four stars, writing "Thanks to Affleck's sure-handed, period-piece-perfect direction, a crackling good screenplay by Alex Convery and the lively, funny, warm, passionate performances from the A-list cast, Air is as entertaining and fast-paced as an NBA Finals game that is destined for overtime." Peter Debruge, writing for Variety, gave the film a positive review and praised the performances, saying: "Air ought to be taken as the ultimate example of the American dream, a funny, touching Cinderella story about how the third-place sneaker brand wished upon a star, and how that man — and his mother — were smart enough to know their value." The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye also gave the film a positive review and deemed that, "For most audiences, Air will be worth seeing just for the starry cast — particularly the reunion between Damon and Affleck. Their scenes possess a kinetic and intimate dynamism that the rest of the film approaches but doesn't always match."
Less flatteringly, NPR's Aisha Harris summarily dismissed the film's "flimsy premise" as a "craven exercise in capitalist exaltation"; though she praised Davis and Messina's performances, Harris resented the overall inadequate character development and concluded with the impression that there was "something ultimately hollow about trying to extract FUBU mentality from what amounts to a two-hour ad for Nike and the uber-rich". Similarly, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian admonished the film for "looking like the most expensive in-house corporate promo in history: shallow, parochial and obtuse" and also bemoaned the underutilization of Davis, who he described as having "more charisma and force than the rest of the cast put together".
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