The mass audience knows Ben Affleck as Batman in Zack Snyder’s DC film universe. In particularly difficult cases, like Shibaigolova from the unsuccessful film of 2003. But Affleck is also an outstanding director and screenwriter. He showed this to everyone back in 2012 with his film “Argo”. In Air, he entered the territory of sports dramas combined with stories of corporate intrigue. We tell you in the review below how the project turned out.
“Air” / Air
Genre drama
Directed by Ben Affleck
Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina
Premiere cinema
Release year 2023
IMDb site
1984 year. Nike is looking for ways to strengthen its position in the sports shoes market. One of the representatives of Nike, Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), sees potential in a young basketball player, Michael Jordan. And let everyone be skeptical of the idea, Vaccaro is sure that it is the contract with Jordan and the new series of shoes dedicated to him that will take the global sneaker culture to a new level. Just to begin with, he will have to overcome many nuances of the life of large corporations and advertising relations in sports.
“Air” cannot be called an easy film to watch – and there are several reasons for this. One of the main ones is that the plot relies extremely heavily on numerous marketing and business terminology. In this way, “Air” is similar to the “Downgrade Game”, where everything also depended on the activities of stock brokers. Only Affleck’s movie doesn’t have Margot Robbie in the bathtub explaining all the obscure nuances in an accessible way.
Instead, “Air” offers extremely textured and saturated characters. Even within the framework of a strict corporate culture, they manage to attract with their charisma and reveal themselves from unexpected sides. The entire film is built on dialogues, so developing the characters is one of the main keys to success. And with him in “Eyre” there is complete order.
Damon and Ben Affleck’s duet is very nice to watch. Best friends in real life know how to recreate real chemistry on screen. Therefore, watching their interaction is a real pleasure.
The film rivets you to the screen and sometimes makes you feel sincere awe even in those moments when nothing special seems to be happening. Local intrigues and somewhat idealistic attempts to make the world a better place are fascinating. After all, even sneakers can influence public consciousness.
And “Air” is a kind of declaration of love to all people who made a whole layer of culture out of shoes. After all, today the pursuit of new models of sneakers has turned into a fierce hobby, and the difference between the colors and the length of the laces can be the cause of fierce disputes. Affleck, together with screenwriter Alex Conway, were perfectly able to convey the origins of such trends.
At the same time, the film turned out to be extremely American. It is largely based on the cultural characteristics of the United States. Pragmatism here is combined with an almost infantile belief that somewhere inside gloomy offices and soulless corporations real miracles are happening. “Air” perfectly shows that these miracles are possible.
Michael Jordan himself, because of whom the plot revolved, is practically not shown in the film. He does not have a single line of dialogue, and he himself is more like a shadow, a fleeting silhouette. And this also has its own powerful script idea.
“Air” focuses not on a big star, but on people working from the shadows. Who decide the future of companies and entire generations with a couple of phrases. Sometimes their decisions are not well thought out and almost chaotic. But it is from such chaos that true beauty is born.
Apparently, Affleck wants to compete for the Oscar again, so he made an uncompromising and complex film, for the full understanding of which it is necessary to understand sports, business, marketing and American culture of the 80s. There are a lot of layers in “Eyre”, which are a real pleasure for fans to understand.
But even if you do not understand anything in the above, “Air” will still bring you pleasure. Precisely due to the idealistic, ephemeral and almost elusive feeling of changes in the world for the better. To evoke such emotions with a film about sneakers is already a huge achievement. Chances are, after watching it, you’ll finally buy your first pair of Air Jordans.
Pros: development of all characters at the highest level; the nuances of corporate and business culture are perfectly conveyed; competent combination of idealistic aspirations and pragmatism of corporations; outstanding chemistry between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Cons: some plot complexity; too strong dependence of the film on the cultural characteristics of the Americans of the 80s Conclusion:
“Air” is a wonderful and not boring movie, although its description and structure may lead to thoughts of the opposite. It turns a sad ending into a triumph of human genius. And watching such an extravaganza is a pleasure for all 112 minutes of the time recording
