Air Review

Air follows the story of how Sonny Vacarro (Matt Damon) brought Michael Jordan to Nike and developed one of the most successful shoe lines of all time. While Michael Jordan (Damian Delano Young) is what everyone is after in the film, he gets very little screen time, as the director (Ben Affleck) made the wise decision to never show us his face. The audience is given plenty of back and side shots, but they are never shown his actual face, and he only has about two lines in the entire film. This was expertly done so that the audience is not distracted by the shadow of one of the world’s greatest basketball players.

Best: The film is perfectly styled. The opening montage gives a snapshot of the world in 1984. From the music, to politics, to pop culture, this montage perfectly encapsulates this period and serves as nostalgia for audiences of that era and as place setting for those born after this period. Every inch of this film screams 1984, from the clothes, to the furniture, to the walls themselves.

The film relies not only on the props and production departments to transport the audience, but even the cameras play a part. Affleck shot the film on Arri Alexa 35 Digital Camera to achieve the more dated look of the film. This additionally helped place the audience in the time period as they feel they are watching a film not only set but created in that era.

Ben Affleck as Phil Knight in Air (2023)

Best Performance: Ben Affleck as Phil Knight, CEO & founder of Nike, gives easily the best performance of the film. While the entire cast is full of talent, Affleck does the best job in embodying the role. When Damon comes on screen, the audience knows it's Damon and already knows what to expect from him. Affleck however goes the distance by adding hair, makeup, and clothes that make him almost unrecognizable. Not only does Affleck look like Knight, but he uses his physical performance to show the mindset of Knight. Throughout the film, Affleck is almost constantly in motion. When he is nervous, he is fidgety and restless, when he is thinking, he is on a jog, when he is trying to exert an authority he is no longer sure he possesses, he uses his size to appear larger than Damon. Furthermore, he seems to adjust his speech just enough to disappear as Ben Affleck and transform himself to Phil Knight.

Amazon originally picked up the film’s distribution rights, with the intention of putting it straight to its streaming platform. After seeing the film however, they made the wise decision to put it in theaters. As of this posting, the film has made $14.5 million domestically. The film resonates with audiences, as it is one of the few adult dramas this spring that is not IP driven. One can only hope studios like Amazon continue to find and put these kinds of films in theaters, and not hide them on the streaming platforms.

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REVIEWED BY LINDSEY