From Warner Bros. and Amazon Studios, written by Alex Convery and directed by Ben Affleck, “Air” (2023) is our next HNS recommendation. “Air” is not another simple story of pop culture icon and legendary basketball player Michael Jordan, but a story of how a young special sports talent captured the worlds imagination. It’s a look at how the people he knew behind the scenes helped him on his trajectory to greatness, including his family, coaches, and mentors. An up-and-coming American sports company Nike would be the most iconic partnership in sports and arguably business with his signature sports shoe ‘Air Jordan’. The story follows Nike salesman and talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and his pursuit to find the next young athlete to boost the basketball division. The film highlights his partnership with Michael Jordan and how Sonny was willing to put his career and the company’s future on the line and also change the direction of the young company and sports industry forever. The movie also explores the influence Michael Jordan’s mother Deloris Jordan (Viola Davis) had on his career, how she always had his best interests in mind, her unrelenting belief in him, and how she protected his future and legacy in the sport. “Air” features a star-studded cast including Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, Jason Batemen, Chris Messina and Ben Affleck as Nike CEO Phil Knight. Set in 1984, it beautifully captures the aesthetic, colour, and pop-culture of the 1980’s from films such as Gremlins, Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters , Footloose, Splash, The Karate Kid and more. The film includes music from Bruce Springsteen, Chaka Khan, and ZZ Top that perfectly captures the period of inspirational magic from the era.
Read the Official synopsis from Warner Bros. below for ‘AIR’:
Directed by Ben Affleck
Written by Alex Convery
Produced by David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Madison Ainley, Jeff Robinov, Peter Guber, and Jason Michael Berman
Executive Produced by Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, Drew Vinton, John Graham, Peter E. Strauss, Jordan Moldo
Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Matthew Maher, Marlon Wayans, Jay Mohr, Julius Tennon, with Chris Tucker and Viola Davis
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.
AIR was released in cinemas on April 5, 2023
