By – Nick Adrian

For fans of Michael Jordan, basketball, feel-good movies, crowd pleasers

Some films that are based on true stories are greatly anticipated. Some don’t quite seem like they have enough material to fill a film at all. Ben Affleck’s Air initially sounded like the latter to me and my own interest didn’t grow until I heard the unanimous praise behind it. I wondered how a movie centered around (then-failing) shoe company Nike’s attempts to sign a business deal with (then-rookie) Michael Jordan could be worth the watch. In short, it’s best to always trust Affleck.

Air tells the true story Nike talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) who’s responsible for finding a new face for the struggling company. His first instinct (Jordan himself) is more or less unreachable – he’s too expensive and has already shown support for Adidas. But Vaccaro has a hunch that the world is about to witness the greatest basketball star they’ve ever seen, and he’ll do anything he can not to let the opportunity go to waste.

On paper it sounds like a rudimentary exercise and hardly enough plot to provide an entertaining, crowd-pleasing movie. But audiences have doubted the collaboration of Damon and Affleck (who also did uncredited rewrites on the script) before and history should’ve taught them to never do it again. Packed with humor, suspense, and an incredible cast (Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, and Viola Davis play supporting roles), Air is the first truly feel-good movie of 2023 that will please even those who never took a liking to sports (example: this writer!).

Now playing in theaters