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Air Jordan without Air Jordan is absolutely terrific.
One of the best decisions stars and co-directors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon made was to never show the face of the actor playing Michael Jordan in this new film about how the Carolina superstar changed the world of personal endorsement and multiplied the wealth of other professional athletes.
AIR, the story of Jordan’s surprise signing with Nike over Adidas and Converse, gives a somewhat dramatic look at the week the deal was made that saved the Nike basketball division in 1984, a month or so after Michael leaves UNC as a junior All-American ahead of the NBA Draft where he was the third pick by the Chicago Bulls.
Despite their own fame as long-time leading men, Affleck plays self-indulgent Nike founder Phil Knight brilliantly and Damon is a betting-looking Sonny Vaccaro, the famous pitch man who started the first high school all-star game and was a high-stakes gambler with everything he touches.
Vaccaro goes directly to the Jordan family in Wilmington, a taboo practice of going behind the back of foul-mouthed agent David Falk, played by Chris Messina. But Vaccaro’s quick bonding with Deloris Jordan results in the parents and their 21-year-old son traveling to Oregon to meet with Nike.
There, an emotional pitch by Vaccaro and introduction of the first athletic shoe named for a player – red-white-and-black with a Nike Swoosh – won over Jordan’s mother, who to this day is the pillar overlooking all of the family-supported charities. Her vision of Michael’s super-stardom led to asking for a percentage of every Air Jordans sold forever and made all shoe companies share profits with players who only received endorsement fees prior.
Fast-forward 40 years, and MJ is a billionaire after his Air Jordan and Jumpman lines also made Nike the giant it remains today.
Jason Bateman plays the company’s marketing genius, Rob Strasser, but the flick is stolen by Chris Tucker, the fast-talking Nike VP Howard White, who Tar Heel fans may remember as a great player at Maryland under Lefty Driesell.
Carolina and basketball fans can enjoy this movie immensely, but so will people who know next-to-nothing about sports because it is also the story of a mother, masterfully played by Oscar winner Viola Davis, and clearly the rock of the family.
Messina’s portrayal of agent Falk tickled me the most, because those of us who met Falk when he escorted Michael around Chapel Hill knew that he used less dirty language and had far less hair than the fiery guy Messina plays.
It will be a blockbuster film worldwide, but one that is particularly prideful around here for its references to UNC and Dean Smith and video highlights of the Jordan no actor could ever play.
Featured image via Amazon Studios
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