Air (NC16)
112 minutes, opens on Thursday
4 stars

The story: It is the early 1980s. Top athletes nab sponsorship deals with Adidas and Converse because both brands have a reputation for the richest bids. Few would consider an offer from the poorer, smaller Nike, known then for its running shoes and not much else. Nike marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) wants to sign hot, young basketball player Michael Jordan. Working with Nike head Phil Knight (Ben Affleck), Vaccaro resorts to unconventional means to break Jordan’s prejudices about Nike being a less cool, stingier company. Based on the true story of the Air Jordan shoe model and sponsorship deal that changed Nike’s fortunes.

This would be a perfect sports biopic but for a couple of things. First, it demands that viewers not only know who Michael Jordan is, but also that the name be accorded respect, verging on worship (and it is why the film never shows the actor who plays him in full, in the manner of religious biographies and the deities who appear in them).

If, like this reviewer, you are a sports ignoramus, this is a big ask.

The second fly in the ointment? That when a corporation succeeds, it is an event worthy of celebration. If the idea of romanticising the marketing coup that helped Nike become a multi-billion-dollar behemoth and the largest athletic brand in the world gives you the shudders, best to steer clear of this ode to the redemptive power of money.

Director and star Affleck has a fondness for stories about money in the service of good, such as in Oscar-winning hostage drama Argo (2012). Argo’s Central Intelligence Agency man Tony Mendez pretends to be a movie producer to save hostages. Air’s Vaccaro breaks the rules of sports marketing because he knows the rules serve only those who are already at the top.

Air’s acting, cinematography and dialogue are close to flawless, though it loses marks for the scene in which a group hug and slow clap break out. It is 2023 – laugh tracks have died out and it is high time that group hug and slow clap scenes do too.

Characters become memorable and human with a few brushstrokes – Michael’s mother Deloris Jordan (played by the brilliant Viola Davis) wipes her dishwater-wet hands before picking up the telephone. There is a running joke about the shamelessness of a pudgy man like Vaccaro representing an athletic brand.

Hot take: Air is an airport bookshop self-help book brought to vibrant life.