Most critics like Air, and the spread is narrow: nearly everyone finds it entertaining, and the disagreement is over whether entertaining is enough. The praise clusters on the cast. Matt Damon’s Sonny Vaccaro is singled out repeatedly as the film’s centre, Viola Davis’s Deloris Jordan is the performance most often called its strongest, and the easy back-and-forth between Damon and Affleck comes up again and again. Affleck’s direction is credited with pace and snap, and the dialogue gets more mentions than the plot. The reservations cluster elsewhere. Several reviews note that Michael Jordan himself is kept almost entirely off screen, and are divided on whether that is a smart choice or a hole. The Telegraph calls it a two-hour footwear advertisement, well made all the same. The New Yorker finds it hermetic and shallow about its people. The lone outright dissent is The Guardian, which sees a corporate drama that flatters its boardroom and turns Jordan into a commodity.
V
Vulture
15 May 2023 · Bilge Ebiri
85*
The critic calls it an enormously entertaining corporate drama that ingeniously captures the spiritual and cultural significance of the Air Jordan deal, highlighting the era's pop culture and the characters' midlife pathos.
Affleck's film focuses on the creation of the Air Jordan sneaker and themes of excellence and perseverance rather than Jordan himself. It praises the energetic pace, snappy humour and strong casting, particularly the Damon-Davis scenes.
Infectious 1980s-set tale of Nike turning its fortunes by signing Michael Jordan to endorse trainers. The film belongs to Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, with a sublime cast, period nostalgia and absorbing exploration of money, power, race and class.
A crowd-pleaser made with panache and smarts about Nike courting rising star Michael Jordan to reverse its fortunes. Matt Damon is immensely appealing and Ben Affleck produces one of his most irresistibly entertaining dramas, honest about the cutthroat sports business.
Ben Affleck’s throwback dramatisation of Nike’s attempts to sign Michael Jordan positively floats along on crackling dialogue and strong performances, especially Affleck as Phil Knight. It harks back to more innocent times while acknowledging capitalist realities.
The review praises the slick, well-acted look at the Nike pursuit and strong performances, especially from Damon and Davis, but criticizes it for not being quite a slam dunk and issues with portraying Jordan and racial dynamics.
Affleck’s perky new movie is a period piece telling the origin story of the Nike Air Jordan as a love letter to consumerism wrapped in a corporate legend and feelgood workplace comedy.
It is a consistently watchable and well-acted entertainment, or at least a two-hour footwear advertisement convincingly disguised as one. The clunky textures of the 1980s business world are nicely captured.
The film is agreeable and well-acted with an unusual heroic story, but it is hermetic, superficial, and focuses too closely on protagonists without providing broader context or depth about characters.
The film is an engaging but ultimately disingenuous corporate drama that prioritizes boardroom back-slapping over substance. It fails to give Michael Jordan a voice, turning him into a mere commodity.
Affleck's Nike thriller makes you care about the origin of a pair of basketball shoes and is gripping, with strong performances from the cast including Matt Damon and Viola Davis. It is a crowd-pleaser powered by kicky dialogue but has a bit of a Michael Jordan problem as the legend remains oddly invisible.
The film is a disingenuous ode to Eighties capitalism that plays it too safe but is annoyingly watchable and a blast, with standout work from Matt Damon and Viola Davis. Affleck wishes he was David Fincher but is plausible as a pillock in his supporting role.
Affleck’s shrewd and hugely enjoyable movie is an ode to the art of the landmark endorsement deal, deftly complicating ideas of destiny and history while delivering breezy corporate brinkmanship and strong performances.
The critic finds the film affectionate and involving thanks to its starry cast and the dynamic between Damon and Affleck, but notes it fails to fully convince in its dramatic aspirations, particularly with underdeveloped characters like Deloris Jordan.
Ben Affleck's film is a compelling and gut-bustingly funny Nike origin story that reunites him with Matt Damon and echoes the tone of Jerry Maguire. It succeeds through strong performances, especially from Viola Davis and Affleck himself as Phil Knight, despite the premise of a corporation becoming even bigger.
The critic finds the film ridiculously entertaining despite being about shoes, praising its frothy amusement and the way it highlights the larger racial stakes in a late confrontation between characters.
Delivered with dazzling aplomb, it is held together by galvanising turns from Damon and easygoing chemistry with Affleck. The best bits are the interpersonal fireworks between the leads.
Affleck turns the Nike quest into an entertaining anatomy of a business deal like this generation’s Jerry Maguire, with a focus on Viola Davis’s powerful performance as Jordan’s mother and the racial dynamics of the story.
The critic calls the film one of the best of 2023 so far and praises Affleck's direction for turning boardroom negotiations into an enthralling, gripping story despite the known ending. Strong ensemble performances, especially from Damon, Affleck, Bateman, and Davis, are highlighted as key strengths.
Affleck exceeds expectations as director and actor in this ensemble-driven story of the Air Jordan deal. The critic highlights the strong performances across the cast and the script's energy, while noting Delores Jordan's key role in negotiating the groundbreaking royalty deal.
An earnest, good, performance-driven crowd-pleaser that feels like a Moneyball-style take on the behind-the-scenes story; welcome return for Affleck behind the camera.
Fuelled by Affleck's propulsive direction and Damon's stellar everyman performance at the centre, Air is a slam dunk crowd-pleaser that is as durable and wonderful as the shoes it depicts.
The review calls the film terrific and singles out Chris Messina's standout performance as a volatile, jerky agent as one of 2023's finest movie assholes. It praises how the movie uses irony and the supporting cast to explore themes of corporate exploitation, labor value, and cultural impact around the Air Jordan deal.
A yeoman work from Affleck that functions as a competent sports movie with good performances and strong dialogue while also serving as a thinly veiled industry manifesto about breaking conventional models.
The review views the film primarily as a tribute to Michael Jordan that fails to get off the ground due to shallow character development and an over-reliance on hero worship. It notes the smart choice to keep Jordan off-screen and praises Viola Davis's nuanced performance as his mother.
The critic describes the film as a glossy, self-aware corporate origin story that offers light, satisfying pleasures through strong pacing and performances but ultimately valorizes powerful brands and executives with limited subversion or depth. Affleck's gift for working with actors and the chemistry between him and Damon are noted positively.
The film is carried by its excellent cast delivering strong performances, but as corporate hagiography it gets positive traction by selling its soul and does not quite clear the bar set by the best sporting biopics.
The critic finds the film an entertaining slice of sports marketing history buoyed by a sterling cast and confident direction from Affleck. They single out Viola Davis’s powerful closing monologue for elevating the story from a tale of sneaker deals into something deeper about self-worth.
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