A film about a famous shoe is a concept that is easy to write off but don’t judge a book (or shoe) by its cover and you’ll find one hell of a gem with this Ben Affleck directed movie. Here’s our AIR Amazon Prime review.

Sonny Vaccaro and Nike pursue basketball rookie Michael Jordan, creating a partnership that revolutionizes the world of sports and contemporary culture.
AIR is a movie that cares and it speaks volumes that a movie about a shoe can be so engrossing, engaging and beautifully crafted that you not only care about the shoe but all of the minds behind it.
Matt Damon leads the way as a determined Sonny Vaccaro who is hellbent on signing Michael Jordan to Nike despite at the time Nike being far behind their competitors in Converse and Adidas.
Sonny see’s a certain magic in a young Michael Jordan and is willing to bet his career that he will make Nike a success but there’s more than one obstacle standing in this way.
Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser in AIR Photo: ANA CARBALLOSA © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC
The friendly yet grounded CEO of Nike Phil Knight (a quite funny and charming Ben Affleck) who doesn’t want to spend Nike’s entire budget on acquiring Michael Jordan and secondly, Jordan himself not being a fan of Nike.
Michael Jordan isn’t the star of this movie, the shoe is and this was proven when meetings were taken with Jordan and his family and he was never shown on camera. The film doesn’t want to have Jordan take centre stage for this feature, they want Nike and the shoe to be the focal point with Jordan the driving force behind its success.
It’s just a shoe until someone steps into it was a pitching line used within the movie to get Jordan to sign with Nike. It’s fitting (no pun intended) that they would use this line in a film that specifically doesn’t allow MJ to step into it and yet still makes it a huge success in my eyes.
Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan and Julius Tennon as James Jordan in AIR Photo: ANA CARBALLOSA © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC
MJ paved the way for athletic marketing forever and AIR beautifully tells that story with Viola Davis driving the heart of this movie playing the role of Michael Jordan’s mother. A mum so determined and so confident in her sons abilities that she was able to drive home the deal that would change the world of sport forever.
For a movie that for the most part is in offices or meetings, you’d instantly write AIR off but rest assured that performances drive this entire movie and by the time the credits arrive you’ll have an insane appreciation for the Jordan family, his legacy and even the employees of Nike who made this happen.
Never before have I cared more about a shoe.
Alex Convery has written this film with heart. Light comedy and drama are finely poised to bring you this engrossing and truly remarkable movie. Damon’s character is so determined to sign Jordan that he’s going Maverick and taking liberties that could be detrimental not only to his career but those around him. Not exactly a safe pair of hands but a man so confident in his gut instinct he’ll stop at nothing to show his colleagues that he was right and prove the reason why Nike hired him in the first place.
Ben Affleck as Phil Knight in AIR Photo: COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC
Another character highlight is Michael Jordan’s agent David Falk (played by Chris Messina) who channels his inner Entourage to deliver a physical embodiment of Ari Gold in full potty mouth form. I thought he was hilarious and really added to the comedic relief of the movie and his banter with Matt Damon was second to none.
I may be blowing a lot of hot AIR in this review but it’s absolutely justified but you won’t have to wait too long to find out with it dropping on Amazon Prime May 12th.
AIR Amazon Prime review by Sean Evans

Our Rating

Summary
It’s time to lace up and get stuck in with this beautiful story. A story with heart, passion and determination with drops of humour to keep things flowing, AIR is much more than just a story about a shoe. It’s a movie about family, legacy, heart and the desire to win against all odds. An absolute Amazon Prime must-watch.