In the first instance, the starting point of “Air” —because of its original title that did not require any additions—, could be considered a routine anecdote about the negotiation of sponsorships between a brand at that time of medium size and a young promise of the sport. But do mention to us that said budding star is the very same Michael Jordan, and the passage corresponds to the time when the NBA would go from being a rooted sport American, to become a lifestyle worldwide, the matter takes on other dimensions.
That is what the original screenwriter Alex Convery, as well as Matt Damon y Ben Affleck who, in addition to leading the cast, also got their hands on the text, to create a framework where commercial strategies take on a dramatic sense thanks to the fact that they go hand in hand with the character dilemmas faced by the characters, thus humanizing the processes behind the slogans and product names, always pointing to what we already know, which would mark generations in the long run.
The new film, AIR, shows us the incredible revolutionary partnership between then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division, which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. See Matt Damon and Ben… pic.twitter.com/PbApOrvjq0
— Indie 505 (@Indie5051) April 8, 2023
For his part, Ben Affleck demonstrates once again that he is much better behind the cameras than in front of them, and with an irreducible trade that leaves aside any technical display to make austerity his greatest virtue, a barely stylized organic visual proposal. due to the MTV-type video clip notes, in addition to a calculated impetus in the development so that, as it did in “Argo” (2012), despite the looseness of the rhythm, the story never loses its pace; he finds the key points of intimacy that, by dressing with nostalgia, end up taking the film to the inspirational level that the general public falls in love with so much.
Of course, even so, “Air: the story behind a logo” does not completely escape the conventions of the genre that prevent it from going further with its promising spirit of irreverence when it comes to delving into complicated issues regarding marketing, but It is certainly a brilliant example of how to make a seemingly small story, an entertaining, illustrative and very emotional film proposal, so valuable as a testimony of pop culture, as worthy of the figure to which he indirectly alludes with his name, repeating himself over and over again, that of His Majesty, the best basketball player in history, Michael Jordan, of whom, as rightly shown here, everyone wants a bit of his greatness.
