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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cory Woodroof

The Nike Air Jordan film from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon is receiving tons of early praise

The upcoming sports drama Air had its world premiere at South by Southwest this weekend, and the early reactions are incredibly encouraging.

The dramatized telling of how Nike landed Michael Jordan for the legendary Air Jordan shoe deal comes from actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck, who directs and plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight in the project.

Affleck’s longtime collaborator and buddy Matt Damon plays Nike employee Sonny Vaccaro, who worked to get Jordan on board for the shoe deal that changed both of their lives.

Affleck showed the film at the Austin, Texas, film festival on Saturday, and the early returns are quite encouraging. Affleck and the Air team got a standing ovation from the SXSW crowd.

Affleck seemed to really hype up the importance of the film premiere in the grand scheme of his career.

In his review, Variety critic Peter Debruge called it “this generation’s Jerry Maguire.”

More reactions praised the cast, Affleck’s direction and the film’s uplifting message.

If you’re excited to check out Air, it’ll hit theaters nationwide on April 5.

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