At the end of “Air,” director and co-star Ben Affleck, bafflingly bewigged as Nike CEO and co-founder Phil Knight, lies back on his office couch and utters a single word: “equity.” It’s a bit of a cheeky callback to something that happens even before the movie starts: the appearance of the production logo for Affleck’s new company, Artists Equity, which produced “Air,” and which seeks to shake up business as usual in Hollywood, in the same way that Nike and the Jordan family shook up business as usual in the sneaker industry.
Artists’ Equity is a company designed to share profits with the craftspeople who make the movie, alongside the top-billed stars and producers. This ethos about sharing the wealth among talent also forms the crux of the main argument in “Air,” which is delivered passionately in a climactic speech by Viola Davis, playing Deloris Jordan, Michael Jordan’s mother, who knew — and demanded — her son’s worth.
“Air,” written by Alex Convery, becomes Affleck’s treatise on the film industry and the perils of celebrity, shoehorned into a biopic of a brand: It’s the story of a jogging shoe company courting the greatest player of all time with a signature sneaker, resulting in an unprecedented deal that continues to garner $400 million a year in passive income for Michael Jordan. It’s somewhat of a miracle that “Air,” a film about the iconic Air Jordan sneaker, works as well as it does, considering that most viewers already know the outcome of this movie, which revolves around a single meeting held in Beaverton, Oregon, in 1984. This is a story that on paper doesn’t have a shred of suspense, but Affleck applies just the right elements to make it sing.
The first crucial component is Davis as the steely Deloris, delivering the aforementioned three-pointer of a speech, and the second is Affleck’s best friend and business partner, Matt Damon, playing Nike basketball guru Sonny Vaccaro with the kind of sincerity and determination that Damon makes look easy. As Knight, Affleck takes on the erudite weirdo role opposite Damon’s earnest schlub, much like in the last movie they made together, the underrated medieval epic “The Last Duel,” another meta text that used a period setting to comment on contemporary issues.
Affleck surrounds himself, Damon and Davis with a quartet of actors doing absolutely riotous character work and hitting every wild shot. Jason Bateman plays Nike marketing exec Rob Strasser as perpetually bothered and snarky, making a full-course meal out of every tiny reaction; Chris Messina is at full froth as Jordan’s agent David Falk, spewing soliloquies of florid filth on the phone while ensconced in a black and chrome office, sometimes casually twiddling a large knife. Chris Tucker plays affable Nike talent relations exec Howard White, who builds a cultural bridge between a Black family from North Carolina and a crew of Oregonian sneaker heads. Matthew Maher rounds out the team as designer Pete Moore, an oddball philosopher of footwear who turns the Air Jordan into an objet d’art, a reflection of the individual player designed for mass market consumption.
The style is busy, Affleck laying a heavy hand on the ‘80s references and music cues, Robert Richardson’s cinematography mimicking the amateurish style of someone with a brand new camcorder. But the pace flies, and the actors make the film wildly engaging. With Davis as the quietly powerful Deloris jockeying for her son’s best interest, and Damon’s Sonny offering inspirational speeches about immortality and the rise and fall of celebrity, it almost feels like buying Jordans is a virtuous act. But remember, that’s just the genius of marketing, and movie magic. “Air” might not be the movie that makes Ben Affleck immortal the way the Air Jordan did for Michael, but it’s an entertaining representation of his new, industry-disrupting company, an enterprise that hopefully has a lasting impact.
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‘AIR’
3 stars (out of 4)
Running time: 1:52
Rated: R (for language throughout)
Where to watch: In theaters Wednesday
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