“Air” (2023)

Air

Grade: B

Air is an underdog story in the era of late-stage capitalism, an entertaining albeit extremely predictable film about how Nike revolutionized the sneaker game by signing Michael Jordan. In essence, a two-hour ad that gets by on flashy nostalgia and fast-paced aplomb.

Directing:

By pacing Air like a speedy Martin Scorsese crime flick, director Ben Affleck successfully recreates early-‘80s cocaine-fueled nostalgia sans coke: quick editing, period-accurate props and the glossy aura of superior products, all of which makes for a fun, frenetic rush down memory lane.

Acting:

Air is a snappy, dialogue-heavy film that greatly benefits from its entertaining cast, who are all essentially playing stereotypes of the personal brands they’ve built over the last few decades: Matt Damon as a resilient everyman, Jason Bateman as a snarky complainer, Affleck himself as a douchey C.E.Bro, and Viola Davis — the most talented of the bunch, who steals the film in only a few short scenes, whose personal brand is simply being a great actress — as a magnetic Mrs. Deloris Jordan.

Writing:

The film is enjoyable because it is simple, especially if you’re a sneakerhead or old-school NBA enthusiast looking for confirmation bias that your commodity was indeed the best of the best. However, your enjoyment of Air will also depend on if you believe corporate biopics — especially ones that don’t view The Wolf of Wall Street as a satire — are nothing more than extended commercials.

Music:

If you’re expecting a soundtrack as predictable as the plot, then you’re not giving Affleck enough credit as a curator: the Air playlist adds real fun and authenticity, with a diverse set of hits and deep cuts from the likes of Dire Straits, Violent Femmes, Chaka Khan, Mike and the Mechanics, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Squeeze, Cyndi Lauper and Tangerine Dream.

Ending (SPOILERS):

The problem with Air isn’t that we already know how it ends — people knew how Titanic was gonna end, too — the problem with Air is that there aren’t really any secondary storylines to pay off with the main one, no deep characterization to contextualize the finale, nothing to cheer for other than Nike and Jordan’s utter dominance.

Yes, Sonny Vaccarro’s (Damon) climactic pitch is crowd-pleasing, especially when overlayed with real-world “future” Jordan highlights, but the overall finale is corporate and formulaic, right down to the title cards that detail the successes of our heroic account executives.

“A shoe is just a shoe until somebody steps into it.” – Sonny Vaccaro

Why Air gets a B

Joins a growing list of well-made, inoffensive, harmlessly forgettable corporate biopics that includes The Founder (2016), Tetris and BlackBerry (both 2023).

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