Air

Shortly before the screening began, I told my mates that Air would have to be a damn good film, because the story of how a pair of sports shoes became so successful was not interesting to me in the slightest. But fortunately, as the minutes passed , it turned out that it might not actually be thanks to Ben Affleck. Air is still about Sonny Vaccaro trying to talk Michael Jordan's family into signing a deal with a failing division of Nike, but in the end it's about something else entirely. About people who know they're mediocre and that their name will end up in obscurity a few years after their death, and they hope they can stand alongside the legends for a while. Affleck avoids pathos, knows how to lighten the drama with wit at the right moments and knows he can rely on the actors. He manages to perfectly evoke the atmosphere of the 80s (the opening credits are great), keep it civil and tell a seemingly ordinary story about small people who sensed a chance to do something special and be part of something big. A good film (05.04.2023)

A feel-good sporty retro genre film with a good cast, great music, a clever script and a fun pace, which reminded me of Moneyball. The story may seem uninteresting at first glance, but it's simply an engaging and enjoyable flick from start to finish, with occasional humour. Nike did the best it could with this decision. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are excellent. 8/10. (22.05.2023)

A breezy retro adventure, with a somewhat clichéd script and a clichéd final gala performance by Matt Damon that is perhaps be compelling in terms of acting and emotional integrity, but how many of these have we seen before? An alternative to the founders of McDonald’s or Apple. In short, go for your goal, fight, don't give up and in this case sign Michael Jordan. The rest is history. I prefer Affleck as an actor, and that’s no exception here, but he's a decent director too, he just needs more refined material. (04.06.2023)

Set in a time in America that now seems the most appealing of all, Air is a fresh entrepreneurial adventure with a maximally feel-good happy ending. It's not as funny or seductively amoral as The Wolf of Wall Street, nor does it reveal such an interesting curiosity as Moneyball did, but it’s still a skilfully directed and well acted true story of the American Dream. “Booorn in the USA!” (15.04.2023)

Thanks to Viola Davis, Mama Jordan acts as the brilliant mastermind behind all the incredible hard work of a few eager white boys to feed off the fame of a future legend. Of course, it's been all about percentages all along, but the journey, full of the optimism of the 1980s, an appetite for work and a few... well, fuck it, Just Do It... is captivating. I wouldn't have expected a movie about the signing of a shoe contract to be this good, and I'm not only looking forward to watching it again, but I'm going to find where the nearest basketball shoe store is. Affleck and Damon give brilliant performances! They should get together more often. (24.05.2023)