Air (2023)

Air tells the story of how Nike basically became the biggest shoe company in the world. Normally this wouldn’t be something that would get me to go to the cinema but as it was directed by Ben Affleck i thought I would give it ago. I think his previous track record is good and if anyone can make a story about a shoe work then its Affleck. 

There is a weird thing that goes on here that this film is about the creation of the Michael Jordan shoe and yet we don’t see Michael Jordan. We hear his name and he’s in the room when the big deal goes down but this a film essentially about Michael Jordan that doesn't feature Michael Jordan. That’s a brave thing to do, its like having a film about Richard Nixon that doesn't feature Richard Nixon, it could be done but it requires a lot of thought about how the film will work and to the films credit and given that the subject matter is about a business deal for a shoe, its surprising how much I enjoyed this film. Instead the story focuses on Deloris Jordan (played superbly by Viola David). She comes across as a smart but no nonsense person who is trying to get the best deal for her son instead of trying to line her own pocket. I don’t know how true the depiction in this movie compares to the real Deloris but i am willing to take the film at face value or close to it. One of the main reasons why this film works is the two leads. It helps that Matt Damon & Ben Affleck are very fun to watch and play the characters with a slight over the top style that keep things ticking along nicely.

I enjoyed this film for what it was and whilst I probably wont go back to watch this again unless I happen to stumble across it on TV but I think that it shows how good a director that Ben Affleck can be. He makes a story about a shoe interesting and whilst he may not have an acting career that matches up to his directing career, he shows that he has the skills to make dull stuff seem more interesting than it actually is.