AIR – Review by Nell Minow
2023 will be remembered as the year of the movies that are consumer product origin stories. We’re used to seeing heroic stories of military figures, musicians, political leaders and activists, and, because movies are written by writers — writers. But in 2023 we had a remarkable number of movies with heroes or anti-heroes who were, well, capitalists. We saw the origin stories of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Blackberrys, Beanie Babies, the proto-computer game Tetris, and other branded consumer goods and the development of the corporations that developed and marketed them. By far the best of the group, though, was the story of a sneaker, a shoe that would become so popular it would have, well, a massive cultural footprint. Air made underdogs out of people who were just trying to sell sneakers. Director Ben Affleck, who plays the founder of NIKE in the film, assembled a brilliant ensemble cast to convince us their dream is important and meaningful. In part that is through its meta-message as the first film from the Matt Damon/Ben Affleck production company that will do for the staff and crew what the movie highlights in the deal NIKE made with Michael Jordan: give them a part of the revenues. The screenplay by Alex Convery creates genuine movie magic by keeping us in suspense even though we know what is going to happen. Air takes the challenge of signing of a rookie who will become the greatest player of all time seriously but it does not take itself seriously. It is wildly entertaining, insightful, and full of heart.
