“Air”: business and glory

When there is vision and talent, good results fall under their own weight. Sport is one of the biggest engines in the world not only for economies, but also for spirits. Who says they don’t know Michael Jordan oh Nike, has lived under a rock all these years. But if, for some reason, you find yourself in this select and rare group –or not–, “air” is a mandatory stop on your list of films of this month.

The dynamic duo, best friends and Oscar winners, returns Matt Damon and Ben Affleckto give us the exciting story that tells the creation of one of the most important sports shoe lines in the industry: the air jordanfamous sneakers of the famous basketball player.

In addition to the enormous amount of branding that evokes nostalgia for the 80s, we cannot deny that the film feels like a long commercial for the sports company, but that is precisely its main characteristic: the objective of the film It is not to portray the life and trajectory of Jordan –although at times it works as a tribute–, but to exhibit the successes in the impeccable strategy of Sonny Vaccaro (Damon), Phil Knight (affleck) and Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) who led to positioning Nike as the leader in the field of athletes at a time when no one was betting on them.

affleck surprises –although not so much, since he always does it great– once again alternating his roles as director and protagonist, and what better complement than with his winning duo. The performances of this pair, along with Viola Davis and Chris Tucker, among others, make “airdespite not being a movie with lots of action and dynamism, move forward naturally and lightly as if you were a part of the whole process.

The signing of Michael Jordan –which, in the words of the same director, “did not need to be present in the film”– ends up being an excuse to show us something bigger that exists behind the logo of Nike: the greatness of an athlete is not in their scores or annotations; It’s in his legacy. This is why the work of using only the name, but not the image of the basketball player works: what today represents his personal brand is much stronger than what can be shown on the screen. Ultimately, this is the primary objective of the business: building character around a product.

Some icons are made to fly. “air” is already in movie theaters and promises to leave you wanting to run to buy a pair of sneakers.