Summary:

Last week the new movie AIR premiered in theaters worldwide. The movie is starred by A-list actors, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Jason Bateman.   The underdog story takes place in1984 and recounts how Nike signed Michael Jordan to one of the most unique shoe deals in industry history while only owning 17% of the basketball shoe industry market share. 

Production Information: 

The movie had a total budget estimated around $70-90 million. The movie is directed by Ben Affleck who has acted and directed in academy award-winning movies like Good Will Hunting, Argo, and The Town. The filming for AIR took place in Los Angeles California. 

Script Critique/ Comments: 

In all honesty, there truly isn’t much I would change about this movie. The film is almost 2 hours long and it was one of the rare times that a movie felt like half that. If I had to compare it to another film I would say it reminded me of The Founder (story of McDonalds) but this one’s even more enjoyable to watch if you’re a sports lover and especially an MJ fan. It’s the type of movie that makes you want to get up on your feet and take a risk.

Most of the criticism I’ve heard so far is about wanting to see more of MJ.  We really only just see headshots and no real dialogue from him other than a very brief phone call.  I would say going into the movie I was a little bummed about this but I came to realize that including MJ truly wouldn’t add anything to the film.  I think the producers understood that it would take away from the real story about how genius those who were able to make the deal were. 

One thing I particularly loved about this movie was its soundtrack. You can expect tons of hits from the 80s which not only adds to the retro vibe of the film but will have you bobbing those legs at the theater.  

Actor Evaluation:  

The acting in this movie was phenomenal.  Obviously, when you’re dealing with a guy like Ben Affleck you can expect the acting to be excellent. It’s simply professionalism at its finest and it makes you appreciate the cinematography of the film.  Of course, Matt Damon and Jason Bateman were fantastic, but I think Chris Tucker, who played Howard White, was one of the best “sleeper” actors in the film. 

Overall Rating: 9.0/10