This Tuesday, the team of The Original had the opportunity to discover the premiere of the film AIR about the history of the collaboration between Nike and Michael Jordan.
Directed by Ben Affleck, this drama tells the story from the creation to the signing of the contract of the mythical Air Jordan.
Driven by a 5 star cast including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Viola Davis & Jason Bateman (just that), the film manages to make us relive this story already known by the entire sneaker community.
Basically, it’s 1984 in Baveront, Oregon and we follow Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon) and the Nike company, which at the time was the last in the sneaker business. But in 1984, it is Converse who is at the top of the market followed closely by the Germans: Adidas.
As for Nike, they had to find the right marketing move. They had to find their saviour, the player who would turn the trainer market upside down. It was at this point that Sonny Vaccaro believed and found the person he believed (at the time) could completely change Nike’s image for life: Michael Jordan.
In this constant battle before the Swoosh brand’s heyday, Sonny puts everything in place to win over Michael Jordan. He even goes so far as to meet his parents (played perfectly by Viola Davis and Julius Tennon) at their home to prove his confidence in the young American basketball prodigy.
The film allows us to be directly in the open-space of Nike in the 80s. During the whole film, we follow the obstacle course that the Nike employee will follow. Between Jordan’s reluctant parents, the competing brands and the not at all thrilled Nike boss, the film makes the viewer nervous and impatient.
The team’s opinion
Disappointment, joy, enthusiasm but still satisfaction are the big words of this film, we are hooked until the last second to this story.
Knowing the basic facts, we loved this biopic mixing the dream and the opportunities of the beginning of the brand.
The acting of the different actors and especially that of Matt Damon just impressed us. From the very beginning of the film, we feel all his emotions and we want to know the end of the film (even we already know it).
As far as the shots are concerned, the director succeeded in making us enter perfectly into this story by mixing close-ups from different angles. This way of filming allows the audience to be in the room, with the characters. It is easy for the spectator to immerse himself in the film.
Air manages to stage one of the biggest marketing stories in history and it works perfectly.
A great success especially for Nike fans. Go and see it in the cinema!
We thank Warner Bros for the invitation 🙏🏼
