Affleck and Damon lead Star-Studded Cast in Jordan and Nike Biopic ‘Air’
Air Jordan sneakers. Credit: Ryan Plomp on Unsplash
Frequent collaborators Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are working together again, this time on the biopic “Air” telling Nike’s ambitious pursuit of rookie Michael Jordan for a partnership with them prior to the 1984 NBA draft.
The duo’s reputation precedes them, as they won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1998 for writing the drama “Good Will Hunting.”
“Air” hit theaters on April 5 depicting Nike’s pursuit and eventual landing of a shoe deal with, at that time, pre-rookie Michael Jordan. Matt Damon plays Sonny Vacarro, a Nike employee, who, despite a lot of pushback, decides to fiercely go after Michael Jordan even though Converse and Adidas were Jordan’s top choices for a deal.
Director and actor Affleck portrays Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike.
In the movie, Vaccaro persuades Knight to use all of the endorsement money to try and land Jordan, rather than spreading it amongst a bunch of up-and-coming players, to his chagrin.
Jason Bateman plays Rob Strasser, Nike’s Director of Marketing, Chris Tucker plays Howard White, a Nike executive and Matthew Maher plays Peter Moore, a creative director at Nike who is credited with designing the original Air Jordan 1s.
Although the movie does have a fairly cookie-cutter approach when it comes to the biopic genre, it makes up for it with smart and witty writing, an A-list cast who all bring great performances and a lighthearted, motivational narrative.
The writing here is really what brings everything together. Alex Convery, who is the sole writing credit attached to the movie, wrote the screenplay during the COVID-19 lockdown after being inspired by watching “The Last Dance,” a 10-episode documentary detailing Michael Jordan’s illustrious career.
The script started off as a speculative script, which anyone can write, and is usually non-commissioned. This means that the writer is hoping a producer or production company will pick it up, which is exactly what Ben Affleck did. “Air” is one of the first movies from Artists Equity, a new production company Ben Affleck and Matt Damon launched last year.
The movie, upon release, debuted with a rare 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and was met with praise and rave reviews.
However, although it was well-paced and presented most of the history behind the deal correctly, some people, including Michael Jordan and the Nike executives themselves, had a few gripes with it.
Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls vs. Shaquille O'Neal's Orlando Magic in 1993. Credit: David Hopkins via Flickr
Jordan made it clear that, although Sonny Vaccaro was a big part of the deal, it was really Rob Strasser who he was fond of and who made the deal happen. Also, Jordan explained that Howard H. White and George Raveling were more instrumental to the deal than “Air” led on.
Ben Affleck actually met with Michael Jordan to discuss how the movie should be made and what things they needed to include. Jordan had two requests: Add Chris Tucker’s character, Howard H. White, into the movie and have Viola Davis play his mother, Delores Jordan. Fortunately, both of those things happened and the movie benefitted from both actor’s performances.
The movie has since fallen to a 92%, but it is still being proven as a testament to Affleck and Damon’s usually stellar filmography. Although not a perfect depiction of Jordan’s decision, “Air” put to screen a fun and interesting part of his and Nike’s legacy and cements itself as one of the better movies so far this year.