IR Film Review: AIR [Amazon]
"AIR" as a movie is a specific exercise in a way but the reason it works is because the people making it have a certain freedom without being exploitative. It is a very specific story told with good actors in an almost compacted space with a sense of scale. It is one of the more joy filled movies that Ben Affleck has made as a director because it has something to say but nothing to lose, and a fantastic cast which knows what it is doing. The script written by Alex Convery was on The Blacklist, which is a list of the best unproduced screenplays and it understands what it needs to work. It is not about Michael Jordan. It is about the idea of Jordan and what he means and how that plays to it. Affleck is able to visualize that but it never would have happened without Jordan's blessing. Affleck has said Jordan made one request but I almost don't want to know what that was because it would taint the film. It shows the player's family (and eventual history --- warts and all) as a connotation of what Jordan means to a generation.
That said, the film takes place from the perspective of Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and Damon (playing with a pauch which might be real or not for the film) brings a relaxed almost joyful aspect to his performance. Affleck,his long time friend, knows how to direct him and you feel that comfortability. The scenes of them acting together are great because the characters are both combative and supporting, funny and yet their jobs as the characters hang in the line. Because the movie was made at Amazon, the film could stay mid range, do its thing, not have to open per se and yet make its point. Skydance produced it within its Sports division which meant Affleck could do certain things as well. The drone shots give it scale and the needle drops from the 80s are unbelievable (and makes one think that that budget must have been bigger than the actual movie) but it adds so much especially when you see these known actors do their thing along to it. There are numerous ones that just flow.
The supporting characters do their own thing admirably without moving too far out of the box. Chris Tucker as Howard White, the Talent VP, knows just how much spin and humor to put on it to appeal with audiences of different persuasions while still keeping it focused. A different humor lies with Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, the head of marketing. With Affleck's direction, Bateman is almost the best thing in the movie because his character straddles stakes and his performance is almost pitch perfect (it is too bad it is so early in the year since he deserves some awards recognition for Best Supporting Actor here). Marlon Wayan plays a small part as a consultant confidant to Sonny but it is little more than a cameo.
Viola Davis again knows the right pitch as Deloris Jordan, Michael's mother, his negotiator and proxy. Davis doesn't paint outside the lines but brings both a tenderness and a power (a similar balance which served her well in "The Woman King", still one of the most powerful performances last year that didn't get noticed as much as it should). "AIR" is a simple movie which isn't that simple to do and in a world where mid-range doesn't exist anymore. While it could have pushed directly to streaming, Amazon did put it in a theatrical run, which honestly makes a boatload of difference in certain ways, both in its support of it but also in giving a perspective which sometimes doesn't make its way into movie theaters anymore. A-
By Tim Wassberg
