We are in 1984, and the company Nike, specialized in sporting goods, is at its worst. Its footwear division is the laughingstock of the industry, trailing far behind Converse and Adidas. A once renowned talent scout, but now also on the comeback, Sonny Vaccaro has been given the mandate to perk up said division by convincing promising athletes to join their sneakers. However, it is far from being won. But then, while watching a basketball game, Sonny has a revelation. With strong affection, nostalgia and know-how, Air (Air: courting a legend), by Ben Affleck, looks back on the events that culminated in the signing of a historic agreement between Nike and a certain Michael Jordan.
Written by Alex Convery, his first produced screenplay, Air subscribes for the most part to proven narrative formulas, starting with that, dear to Hollywood, of the given protagonist who loses at the start, but who wins outright (“ underdog “). In this case, it’s as much about the hero, Sonny Vaccaro, as it is about his employer, Nike.
As we know, the first minutes of a film are often the most important: we present the main character, we give an overview of the universe in which he evolves, and we set the tone for the story to come. In this matter, Air turns out to be very skilful from the outset.
Indeed, after seeing him attend a college basketball game, we observe Sonny in his interactions with young athletes he already knows are out of reach for Nike. His professional comments attest to his expertise, while his personal encouragement establishes that he is a nice guy. It only lasts two minutes. And hop ! We follow Sonny to a casino, where he bets everything on one number, loses, but knows when to stop.
At the end of this brief introduction, we know everything there is to know about Sonny, a “good guy” endowed with instinct, having a taste for risk, but finding himself in a bad patch.
And it is exactly this profile that will expand during the next hour and a half. Belly protruding for the occasion, Matt Damon offers a marvelous performance, full of nuances of stubbornness and hints of self-mockery.
A revolution
The star of the saga Bourne and of The Martian (Alone on Mars) is also very well supported. Unsurprisingly, the immense Viola Davis eclipses everyone during her too rare appearances as Deloris Jordan, the mother of Michael Jordan (who approved the project, but remains an almost abstract figure). It should be noted that she is the one who watches over and manages the budding career of son, who would gladly sign the usual agreement with Adidas, namely its association with a range of sports shoes for a sum X.
But now, mom knows that the son’s talent is exceptional, and that this justifies negotiating an equally exceptional agreement (we agree, a film starring Deloris Jordan would certainly be more interesting and refreshing).
This, while Sonny for his part had the idea, also revolutionary, no longer to associate the sportsman with a model of sneakers, but to create a collection around the athlete. To convince the Jordans, Sonny is ready to do anything, including risking his career and his future (in other words, he is not afraid to go all out, like in the beginning).
At Nike, we cringe, but we rally. Chris Tucker (Howard “H” White, future VP of the Jordan brand), Jason Bateman (Rob Strasser, then chief marketing officer) and Ben Affleck (Phil Knight, founding CEO of Nike) form a solid core there dramatico-comic.
In tune with the subject
In this regard, Air completely assumes its nature “ feel good “. Obviously in tune with a subject that fascinates him, Ben Affleck offers an extremely dynamic production that nevertheless knows how to be intimate, as during these friendly confrontations between his character and that of Damon.
Affleck’s camera is by turns attentive and propulsive. Sometimes she almost seems to have arrived there by chance just in time to capture such and such a key moment, sometimes she seems to want to push the characters into action.
As for the 1980s, so easy to caricature, they are evoked with a mixture of amused ostentation and accuracy.
At the end, Airlike the characters, wins his bet hands down.