The footwear industry had long ago transcended necessity with shoes becoming cultural icons, symbolic of athletic prowess and style. One of the most important events leading to this transition takes us back to the 1980s, when the first Air Jordans were introduced. These shoes, with their unconventional design, found their popularity with the game-changing partnership between Nike and a then rookie Michael Jordan.

Ben Affleck’s biographical sports drama, AIR, opens to a montage of iconic moments from the 1980s set to that decade’s hit song Money for Nothing by Dire Straits.

The film recounts how Air Jordans transformed Nike as a brand and significantly influenced Michael Jordan’s career. Written by Alex Convery, the Prime Video release goes behind the scenes to narrate how Michael Jordan got to sign with Nike leading to the creation of the signature shoe – the Air Jordan – and the start of a game-changing partnership.

This marks the first time Affleck directed a feature film starring Matt Damon, who plays maverick Nike executive, Sonny Vaccaro, with Affleck being Nike co-founder, Phil Knight.

As history suggests, Vaccaro was driven by his absolute conviction that Jordan has the potential to become America’s greatest basketball player. With little to lose and a lot of passion for the sport, the story highlights how he made his pitch a reality, overcoming ruthless and crass agents, budgetary constraints and sceptical marketing heads.

Play

Ben Affleck made his feature film directorial debut in 2007 and has ever since amazed many with his ambidextrous abilities to both act as well as direct. AIR’s fantastic direction, and of course the storyline, is already moving, inspiring, and entertaining audiences around the globe. In control of his script, Affleck tactically chose not to reveal Michael Jordan’s face, opting instead to anoint his mother Deloris the MVP in his career and success. Not giving Jordan a face or voice serves to commodify the sportsman further.

AIR chronicles how the Nike-Jordan partnership revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time.

The film is a quick-paced entertainer, full of nostalgia and humour, leaving you inspired and awe-struck with Vaccaro’s commitment and the history of Air Jordans.

Now streaming on Prime Video in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, AIR is a film you must not miss.