Great feel good sports movie which is getting good reviews: a story around how the most popular sneakers of all time came to be associated with the legendary Michael Jordan.
The movie which hits UK cinemas on the 5th of April sees Affleck back in the directors chair. Air is his 5th directorial outing and quite rightly he is getting the big #SLAMDUNK for his work on this movie in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Affleck plays the role of Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
Affleck who has 52 movies as an actor under his belt felt he had to get the approval of Michael Jordan to go ahead. This go ahead was accompanied with Jordan saying he wanted the GOAT Viola Davis to play his mother. Affleck felt that on meeting with Jordan that way he talked about his mother that she had to be central to the story.
Cleverly written by screenwriter Alex Convery the story is about the character Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and Nike pursuing basketball rookie Michael Jordan, creating a partnership that revolutionizes the world of sports and contemporary culture and how Sonny was determined to get Jordan to sign on the doted line. It was the start of something big for Nike, with big being an understatement and it was at the start of Jordan’s career. The design of the shoe can be credited to one man Peter Moore (Matthew Maher), who is the creator of the originally banned Air Jordan 1 silhouette. Unfortunately he died just before the movie was completed as age 78.
From award-winning director Ben Affleck, AIR reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a then rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time. Great performances all round with at stellar cast that includes Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, Chris Messina and Marlon Wayons. A movie that inspires you to dream.
Release date: In Cinemas 5th April 2023
Director: Ben Affleck
