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Air premiered globally on Amazon Prime Video on May 12, 2023. The film is based on the story of Nike and their signing of Michael Jordan, which revolutionized both the company and how sports branding works to this day. Air followed Nike salesman Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) as he desperately tried to outdo the losses Nike's basketball division faced by signing a dazzling rookie who would change the company's image forever.
Air also marked the return of Ben Affleck to the director's chair after a long time and the debut of screenwriter Alex Convery, who did a fascinating job of carving out a dialogue-heavy, corporate-encircled film that also managed to be wildly entertaining and breezy.
The central struggle of Air was quite clear from the very start as Vaccarro struggled to convince Jordan, his family, and Nike CEO Phil Knight (played by Affleck) to force a deal to change Nike's fate. The film's ending focused on how the deal went through and what happened in the aftermath.
Disclaimer: There may be major spoilers ahead.
Air closes with the aftermath of the deal and how everyone fared up
The film followed Vaccaro as he religiously tried to get the young player and his company to strike a deal. It faced opposition because Vaccaro wanted to use the entire budget of the Basketball division of Nike to sponsor Jordan. Howard White did indicate that he had never heard of something like this.
To persuade Jordan and create something unique, Vacccaro and the team worked with the shoe designer Peter Moore to create the AJ 1, which would change Nike's future. But the harder part was signing Jordan and convincing Phil Knight.
After failing to outbid the rivals, Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro went directly to Deloris and James, Michael Jordan's parents, and delivered a passionate speech. This managed to sway the family as Deloris called a few days later to agree on a deal with Nike. By this time, Knight had also come around and was ready to take the essential risk for the high reward.
However, Deloris asked for something unique. She emphasized that her son should receive a percentage of the profit from each shoe, something that was unheard of back then. Phil Knight agreed to this and launched the most famous shoes of all time.
The film ended with Knight and Sonny reflecting on their ambition of earning up to $3 million profit over three years from this deal. However, it turned out that their estimation was absolutely wrong. Nike made $126 million in the same period, making it one of the biggest sports brands ever.
The closing credits of the film revealed what happened to each of the members of the group. It showed that Sonny Vaccaro became a major proponent for athlete's rights while Phil Knight became one of the richest men in the world. It also depicted how Jordan became perhaps the greatest athlete in any sport.
Air is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
