The Story of Nike signing Michael Jordan is told in 'Air'

Sonny Vaccaro, a middle-aged and slightly overweight marketing manager at Nike’s ailing basketball division, frequents college games across the nation in search of promising players to sign up with his employer. He often arranges a layover in Las Vegas for his return to Nike Headquarters in Beaverton. He makes money first by sports betting. He then loses that money at the roulette tables. How is it possible that Vaccaro can be so proficient at one type of gambling, but not at another? Roulette is just random chance. The risks of sports betting can often be mitigated if one is familiar with the sport. This is what Air wants viewers keep in mind as the opening sequence ends. The film, which tells the story about how Vaccaro convinces Nike to partner with Michael Jordan to create the iconic Air Jordan shoe was premiered at South By Southwest film festival in March. It will be available on Amazon Prime starting April 5. This is a stark departure from the 1984 model. Jordan and Nike didn’t see it as a good idea. Jordan did not achieve his potential, and his meteoric rise was only visible to Vaccaro, played by Viola Davis. Converse and Adidas were pushing Nike out of the market, while Nike was still in its infancy. Converse was the largest player; Jordan preferred Adidas. Air is well-researched, well-written. The film shows business negotiations that look more or less like they do in real life, if you believe the ESPN documentary The Last Dance. Jordan claims that he preferred Converse and Adidas to Nike, but only the latter was willing to make his unrisen star a personal line of shoes. Sometimes, reality is distorted for suspense. The movie shows Nike employees knowing they will be fined by the NBA for their bold Air Jordan design. The truth is that the company didn’t know about the rule until Jordan was wearing them on the court. However, the company was already making so much money by that point that the fees were a rounding error. Jordan rarely appears. Jordan does appear, but he is shown from the back and speaks only a few words. The movie isn’t about him. The movie is about the businessmen who fought to get his name and likeness on the market. Thankfully, the script doesn’t overlook the fact that the majority of these businessmen were black. Howard White, Vaccaro’s friend (Chris Tucker), is furious at the lack of representation within his industry, which was built on the backs Black athletes. Deloris insists on Jordan receiving a share in the historic deal. This is an unusual but fair deal that Nike refuses to accept. Vaccaro mistakenly assumes that a female employee is Rob Strasser’s secretary at one point. One scene, I swear I saw Jordan’s sleazy manager David Falk (Chris Messina) inspect his secretary’s body after she left him with something. Ben Affleck, who is also the director and plays Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, pays attention to both. 7-Eleven shelves are filled with food items that were discontinued decades back. Strasser (Jason Bateman), uses a lot of paper towels to dry his hands. This film functions a lot like a big Nike ad. The struggling company refuses to leave its Pacific Northwest roots and relocate to the East Coast. It is compared favorably with Converse and Adidas. The latter is presented as an anonymous corporation. We are repeatedly told that the latter is run by Nazis. Contrary to what the movie’s marketing campaign would have us believe, Air is not a sport movie. Contrary to what its marketing campaign would have you believe, Air is not a sports movie. They are like a physical manifestation or commodity fetishism. It’s comfort food for a culture so obsessed with its own purchases that the film industry can market origin stories of sneakers and video games the same way Joss Whedon treated the Avengers when they decided to call themselves the Avengers. It’s a scene that makes audiences cheer. I instead drank my beer. But Air is not about basketball. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world feel as attached to their Jordans than they do to the real Jordan. This is because, as Vaccaro explains in a convincing speech, the shoe makes them feel like their hero. It’s marketing is great, but it’s also authentic.