Here’s Why You Should Go See AIR in Theaters

How do you tell a story that the world (more or less) knows?

We all know how it ends. Why even bother?

Last night, I was able to catch an advanced screening of AIR – the story behind the partnership between then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike. Ben Affleck (Director) and Alex Convery (Writer) put together a neat twist in telling how the deal went down between Nike and Jordan.

I won’t get into the details of the movie (because if you’re reading this here, you know more or less the gist of how it turned out), but AIR puts things into perspective through the eyes of basketball guru Sonny Vaccaro (the guy credited of landing MJ to Nike) and Deloris Jordan (MJ’s mother). Both Vaccaro and Deloris Jordan played a huge part into creating the brand we know and love today, from their foresight and vision of Jordan’s greatness at such an early age. Sure, the injection of humor, nostalgic soundtrack (80s kids, you’ll love this) and ofcourse, shoes – made the 1hr52min run time a breeze.

Now, for those sneaker history nerds out there, take the movie with a grain of salt. Affleck definitely took the liberty in certain historical points but the general feel for the time, moment and overall disposition makes AIR a fun one. There’s so much to unpack from the movie – so many easter eggs, memorable quips, and conversations for any fan of MJ or the brand to re-watch the film a couple of times.

It took a while for me to get used to picturing Matt Damon as Vaccaro (we all know how Sonny looks and he’s no Damon LOL), but he did more than enough to make us believe that signing MJ was the way to go. Davis and Affleck played their parts perfectly, sparking enough for us to wonder what was going through their minds during these tumultuous times. I would’ve wanted Howard ‘H’ White to have more screen time, as he also played a huge part in Jordan’s tenure with Nike. The sneaker fan in me wanted more of Peter Moore and Rob Strasser, as they laid the groundwork for what we see on our feet on the daily. But all in all, AIR was a fun movie, complete with its storybook ending.

Go watch AIR in theaters now!