Air

There are numerous ways to take this year's AIR, a recounting of the events leading up to the greatest signing coup in history.   Even if you weren't around in 1984, you've probably heard that basketball wunderkind Michael Jordan lent his name to Nike, a shoe company that the decade before had another success story -  landing long distance runner Steve Prefontaine.  The Air Jordan would go on to rack up billions in sales, and endorsement deals would be forever changed.  Director Ben Affleck seized the opportunity to make an old school underdog story, resulting in a satisfyingly and slickly executed movie that should delight older viewers who miss that sort of thing.  But Alex Convery's screenplay considers more than a simple do-or-die biopic.

Biopic? Who is this movie about? Young, pre GOAT Michael? No, we barely see him, his face at best half glimpsed.  This is Sonny Vaccaro's story.  A determined sort who goes from scouting talent in high school gymnasiums to courting the future Chicago Bull and largely undisputed best player to ever do a layup.  Matt Damon has his strongest role in some time as the middle aged, pudgy, but tireless advocate, a symbol of American stick-to-it-iveness that will inspire a sizable portion of the audience.  I can almost see this movie being used as a training tool, even as Vaccaro regularly ignores protocol and bucks co-workers, such as Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman, again in smartass mode but with some appealing vulnerability) and his boss, Nike CEO Phil Knight (Affleck, eccentric).  Vaccaro will even dare to meet with Michael's mother Deloris (Viola Davis, a powerhouse) at her home to discuss a deal.  A real pisser for Jordan's fiery agent David Falk (Chris Messina, who almost steals the picture).

I read that in real life, Falk and Vaccaro did not have such an adversarial relationship, but hey, it makes for amusing sparring and this isn't a documentary.  Any moreso than Affleck's ARGO was.  Ben likes to embellish, even if maybe we didn't need it.  And he makes AIR, which may remind you of JERRY MAGUIRE at times, a fun couple of hours.  Part of that fun is ticking off the list of cliches:

1. The moment where our hero gets his inspiration .

2. The warnings that "we can all lose our jobs".

3. The meeting that looks like it's going wrong but, wait, there's the come from behind triumphant speech.  Here, you may feel its passion and urgency is born out of the filmmakers' hindsight, but I digress...

4. The false ending, where all seems to be lost, but wait....

Thankfully, AIR does not include a significant other for Sonny, endlessly lecturing him on what a big risk he's taking.  There's no shoehorned romance.  The film sticks to the meat and confidently so.  Yet, it is also complex enough to allow a multitude of interpretations.  Capitalist victory lap? Triumph for the little guy? American Dream fulfillment?  Indictment of same? All are correct, and your mileage will vary.  I didn't expect AIR ro provide so much fodder for discussion, and kudos to Affleck for bringing back smart mainstream entertainment.  We've missed it.