This write up is of the TV-14 edited version. All thoughts below should be addressed as a write up of the uncut version would be more negative

It’s time for a film about how Nike would go on to recruit Michael Jordan. It’s a pretty fun event to go and make a movie about. Give me one of these over one of those events we’ve all seen a million times. There’s a lot of story to tell here after all and it’s handled very well. If you’re not familiar with the events surrounding this moment then this will be a good way to find out about them. In a way, that’s another advantage of making a movie out of lesser known events since the whole thing will feel a lot fresher and be a new experience for most of the viewers.

The film starts off with Sonny being put on the hot seat again for not delivering on results. The guy’s job is to expand Nike’s basketball program and there have not been any real improvements in a very long time. The program has really stagnated though and there don’t seem to be many promising leads. That’s when Sonny decides to go big. He wants to recruit Michael Jordan even though it means they will have to use the entire budget on him. No other players can be added on or anything like that. The line will run through him. Can Sonny convince his bosses of this and more importantly, can he convince Jordan?

It’s pretty interesting to see Nike as the big underdogs at the time of the film at least in the Basketball world since they were always the big shots when I was growing up. Adidas and the other company were looking tough here. My only slight complaint is I would have liked them to have looked a little more intimidating though. Yeah it’s from Nike’s perspective so of course they end up getting rolled when they actually showed up but it should have been a bit more even. I think you could have done this by briefly showing a montage of them stepping in and defeating Nike on several players before Michael Jordan stepped into the picture. That would have been an excellent way to establish them as a true threat the whole way. The competition is part of the fun after all.

It’s why my favorite character was Falk the agent. This guy was on point with looking after his client’s interests and making sure that Sonny couldn’t just do whatever he wanted. Ultimately Falk wants his money so he’s not going to get in the way if it’s a good offer/deal. He gives the film a lot of good banter with Sonny the whole time and is definitely a real highlight. The guy also doesn’t give in to a quick emotional speech the way that the other characters do. It’s just not how he rolls.

Then you have Sonny who is a solid main character the whole time. He’s certainly determined and never gives up. Things look rather bleak for him on several occasions but he always finds a way to push back and so that’s definitely good. I liked the CEO quite a bit. He may not take as many risks as he used to, but when the chips were down he ultimately went back into competitor mode and backed Sonny up. You definitely want a boss like that who is always ready to match the energy.

Meanwhile Michael Jordan himself is hidden for basically the whole film. It was an interesting decision, I guess this way it keeps the focus on Nike or perhaps they couldn’t find anyone they really liked to portray him. Regardless, it meant that his parents got to really have the focus this time around. In particular his mother handled a lot of the negotiations and did a really good job in making sure that he got a good deal. Getting the royalties from the sales was definitely a massive move because that’s how you get the real money in the end. Always make sure that you get that part of the deal if you find yourself on a show like Shark Tank in the future.

The actual shoe also looked really good. I’m curious how the fine situation played out over time and if the rules were changed or eventually Nike was forced to bring the shoe back into regulation. It’s hard to imagine that the NBA would just let this slide. Fines or not, you’d expect them to reign this in after a while.

Air has the right balance of suspense and fun the whole time. I would call it a pretty upbeat movie the whole time and all of the characters were fun enough. The guy who was in charge of making the shoes could be a little annoying at times but that seemed to be intentional. The rest of the characters had a lot of fun conversations and debates in the meantime. For a film like this you need good writing and the title delivered. The pacing is good and so I had no serious issues. It’s the kind of film you could easily watch at any time without any issues and get absorbed into the story. This is definitely the kind of way I would want to see other stories adapted as well, it feels like the right formula.

Overall, Air is a pretty good film. I’d say it feels like they did a good job adapting all of the events and really keeping you engaged. I would have liked to see a little more of the competitors but I suppose they probably didn’t want to go too much into that or it could have quickly transitioned into more of a fictional setting which would hurt the biographical part here. You’ve got to have a lot of restraint. Whether you like Basketball or not, I would say the film is definitely very accessible and enjoyable.