Where I Watched it: Amazon

English Audio Description Provided By: Media Access Group

Narrated by: Inger Tudor

Generally by the time I get around to the print versions of my reviews, I’m always a little bit behind my YouTube channel. It’s just so much easier to record and upload, than to construct my thoughts while fighting aggressive auto-correct, and a screen reader that often reads a word that sounds so much like the word I meant to use. But, even with the few more 2023 films I’ve seen since Air, it’s still at number one for me for the year.

Which really, if you follow me at all, should not be a surprise. Air is directed by Ben Affleck, who previously gave me a few truly terrific films that remain in my top films today with The Town and Argo. Gone Baby Gone is just slightly under those two, and that’s about where I’d put Air as well. Affleck might be the kind of actor that causes debates, but he’s not that kind of director.

Also, I’m very prone to nostalgia. I’m literally spending my pre-mid life crisis revisiting some of my favorite films, and a bunch of older classic TV show titles. So a film about Air Jordan’s? Well, it’s like fouling someone with a 100% free throw percentage while they’re taking a three point shot, but they make that shot, and still get to take the free throw shot. Or, how about the Technical where no one is standing around the key? Basically, Affleck is putting points on the board before the movie starts.

Then, the film focuses on Nike, as a struggling underdog of a shoe company, known only for running shoes, and the man (Matt Damon) who basically changed that game forever. It’s not quite the white savior story, though it would seem that way. He just championed hard for Basketball, realizing the potential it had, and being able to put a major superstar on the shoe. No longer would athletes simply be paid for wearing a brand, but the company would cater the shoe to the baller. And the future of this movement, he believed, was michael Jordan.

Of course, for those of us who didn’t just Rip Van Winkle our way in front of a screen, there is an obvious end to this story. It’s amazing how much suspense Affleck brings to a story everyone knows the ending is still around today, but he did also tackle a true story with Argo, and that had some tense moments as well.

i think the cast, which includes Affleck, is part of the reason. They never focus really on jordan, but all those around him, at Nike, his agents, and his parents. Everyone definitely showed up, and all the parts are certainly in motion.

I really have nothing negative to say about Air, except to say that like how I split The Town and Argo from Gone Baby gone earlier, I’m able to do that with Air as well. Air is the kind of film that is great, I recognize it’s not going to elevate into my favorites of All Time, and while i suspect Air might very well still be in my Top 20, i also am very realistic that there probably will still be 10 films that reach me more. I can’t actually say it’s the best work from anyone. I’ve already put it as the 3rd or 4th Affleck directed film, and as far as acting, his performance here is still behind some of his others, like The Town, or even his often forgotten performance as George Reeves in Hollywood land.

Damon has several standout performances to choose from, whether it be Good Will Hunting or The Martian, and Viola Davis can’t be touched when you look at her work in Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. But, all three are terrific here. Even Jason Bateman adds flavor, but coming off of Ozark, it’s almost impossible to say this is anywhere near what he is capable of. Really, Chris Tucker is the most impressive, and that’s only due to the first half of Chris Tucker’s career looking almost exactly the same, and only more recently allowing himself to be challenged with meaty content.

But, with about 40 titles from 2023 already under my belt, Air is easily the best thing I’ve seen this year. it floats, it’s delightful, oddly suspenseful, and well acted. It pushes all the right buttons, and I’m also certain it will be forgotten come Awards season.

The audio description here is pretty good, focusing a lot on the few basketball moments, as they are supposed to be extremely important and captivating. Also, the final reveal of the first Air Jordan is well done. This is a high dialogue film, and it’s also deeply 80’s. While the audio description didn’t transport me back to the 80’s, the score can’t help but put you in a Time Capsule. Everything is complimentary here, and Ben Affleck choosing to direct this script from the Blacklist was a great decision for him.

i would watch this again, and probably will, and I easily recommend Air. You might say it’s so astronomically great, it’s a space jam.

Final Grade: A