“Air” (2023)
A film about Michael Jordan. Without Michael Jordan!
A film about Michael Jordan. Without Michael Jordan!
If you were to take even a cursory glance at the article linked at the bottom of this opening paragraph you would discover that I have a hearty appreciation for the films directed by Ben Affleck. Air bookends a nap hand of five films across sixteen cinematic years whereby he was lauded for Gone Baby Gone, critically acclaimed for The Town, rewarded with an Oscar for Argo, and then rather critically slammed for Live By Night, a film far better than sniffy critics would have you believe. A lucky seven years on we have the story of the goddess of victory and the pursuit of victory and perfection, glory and sporting greatness in a based on real life story of a man, a human being and an athlete who redefined a team sport in an individual way that has set the benchmark for all future generations of basketball players to follow and yet, strangely, that almost superhuman sportsman doesn’t appear in his own story.
Or does he?
Ben Affleck 4 films for your consideration
“Gone Baby Gone”, “The Town”, “Argo” and “Live by Night”. All lovingly appreciated and spoiler free.medium.com
Air is brilliant, so let’s not get off on the wrong basketball shoe here. It’s just strangely discombobulating that whenever Affleck’s camera pans around a room or basketball court you never see “Michael Jordan” (Damian Young) full on. You see his back, a glimpse, a (very) brief side view or a shadowed, obscured image of the man upon whose life the film is based on. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for this, image rights perhaps or the man himself simply didn’t want him or his younger self portrayed on the big screen. A quick dive into the murky waters of The Matrix will no doubt present you and me with the answer, but who needs such clean, clear and distinct answers? The enigma is far more satisfying for the soul. For the man himself, the Chicago Bulls number 23 Michael Jordan, DOES appear towards the end of the film with a few real life snapshots of a career whereby he took his individual endeavours in a team sport to stratospheric levels of success exemplified brilliantly in the 2020 mini-series The Last Dance, and this collage of Jordan’s otherworldly feats and successes bookend the film brilliantly.
But why no Michael Jordan in a film about Michael Jordan?
The question perhaps answers itself in as much as it isn’t, strangely once more, a film about a great, sport defining human being, but rather the fiercely independent and supportive mother behind him and the gaggle of sporting executives all keen for his signature on the dotted Nike line that has seen both Jordan and the company itself make oodles of cash. Oscar winner Viola Davis portrays Jordan’s mother with a detached determination and mother’s love brilliantly well, but is also arguably the only major female role in an otherwise male dominated film. Matt Damon portrays overweight and out of shape talent scout “Sonny Vaccaro” with Jason Bateman excelling yet again as sporting director come promotional guru “Rob Strasser”. Chris Messina swears and squirms his way brilliantly through a role as agent “David Falk”, Chris Tucker is superb as Nike executive “Howard White” and whilst director Affleck cameos and grandstands as Nike CEO “Phil Knight”, kudos is reserved for Matthew Maher as “Peter Moore”, chiefly responsible for the distinctive red, white and black shoes created solely for Jordan.
I’m loathe, as ever, to present any spoilers here, but perhaps the answer to the overall question lies in the very last frames of the film whereby each and every one of the characters noted above are given a role call as to their achievements surrounding the signing of Michael Jordan to Nike as well as the career highlights of Jordan himself. My only reservation is the strange use of the Jordan “character” in the film.
Regardless, Air is now five wonderful films out of five from director Affleck and highly recommended.
Thanks for reading. Please see my “Film” library for more spoiler free appraisals of hundreds of films old and new, or linked below are my three most recently published reviews from this year:
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning — Part One (2023)
“There’s no place I won’t go to kill you”.medium.com
“Asteroid City” (2023)
“You can’t wake up if you don’t go to sleep”.medium.com