While i missed in theathers, it happens it was made available on Amazon Prime Video (pretty much immediatly after its theathrical run here), so… we’re reviewing this one too!
While it’s not the first time the story surrounding the cultural impact of the Air Jordan line of sneakers, i didn’t see the One Man And His Shoes documentary (which came out in 2020 and i guess was an antepasta of sorts), so sod it, let’s talk about something that definitely will feel weird to younger generations, as it’s pretty much a film about a line of shoes your uncle had.
Exciting it sounds not if you didn’t grow up in the 1990s (or earlier), i do understand that much.
Despite the name, it’s not the biopic about classic french electronic musical groups, but about the deal between a then unknown Michael Jordan and the newborne basketball division of shoe manufacturer giant Nike, which would develop into the “Air Jordan” line of sneakers, and their cultural impact for sport and footwear,
Directed by Ben Affleck, Air it’s not quite the 2 hours long sneaker commercial you’d expect it to be, but an old fashioned yet compelling biopic underdog story, where Michael Jordan’s almost total absence make sense, as this is ironically not so much about him, but the process and the people that brought upon the phenomenon itself via the mundane realities of conferences, phone calls and so on.
It also has a great period sountrack, which is nice but it’s almost overbearing (and sometimes odd in the way some songs are used), like Affleck’s choice to oversell the fact it’s 1984 by throwing way too many visual references for nostalgia more than establishment, but it’s still a solid, decent film. About your granpa’ (or uncle’) shoes and corporate glorification. 😦
Wise Cafe (International) 