Air is a new movie which is directed by Ben Affleck, who also stars in the film along with Matt Damon. The plot of the film follows, “Nike’s quest to recruit a rookie Michael Jordan as an ambassador for the sneaker company. This partnership revolutionized sports and gave birth to the iconic Air Jordan brand. The story specifically follows two Nike executives and their unlikely attempts to sign Jordan to an endorsement deal, as well as Deloris Jordan, who knew her son’s worth and refused to compromise her vision.” The film was hyped because it was another reunion between Damon and Affleck after 2021’s The Last Duel. I think we’re all aware of the fact that the duo wrote the highly acclaimed Good Will Hunting. So, does the new Damon and Affleck collaboration work as well as their past works? Or does it fall short? Let’s find out what the critics have to say.
Air Movie Reviews Round-Up: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Churn Out Another Stunner?
Adam Nayman
The Ringer
“Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s story of Nike’s paradigm-shifting deal with Michael Jordan is both a great time at the theater and an odd valorization of an already all-powerful brand.”
Jack Hamilton
Slate
“Air is thoroughly entertaining, even if it never really maximizes its alluring potential.”
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
“Even given the benefit of every possible doubt, Air is pretty thin.”
Original Score: 2/5
Kyle Smith
Wall Street Journal
“It plays like pure television by an Aaron Sorkin disciple, and there is no reason whatsoever to see this on the big screen.”
Leonard Maltin
leonardmaltin.com
“The only problem facing Air is that people may be expecting a bigger movie. This is a modest, entertaining behind-the-scenes film about the marketing whiz who believed in Jordan when he was still a rookie.”
Clarisse Loughrey
Independent (UK)
“Coupled with a near-fetishistic attachment to the material indicators of the decade, it’s hard to land on a reason for any of this to exist beyond a goosing up of Nike’s own image.”
Original Score: 2/5
Danny Leigh
Financial Times
“The film is a love letter to consumerism wrapped in a corporate legend, inside a feelgood workplace comedy. The result is so deeply un-dystopian…”
Original Score: 3/5
Radheyan Simonpillai
CTV’s Your Morning
“This is the most Ben Affleck movie: taking queasy material and making it earnest, sentimental, likeable and soft-around-the-edges.”
Original Score: 3/5
Hannah Strong
Little White Lies
“An energetic take on an iconic sneaker – if not the icon himself.”
Original Score: 4/5
Linda Marric
The Jewish Chronicle
“It’s another win for Affleck as a director. I had a whale of a time, despite knowing almost nothing about the subject matter.”
Original Score: 4/5
Rafer Guzman
Newsday
“Ben Affleck’s drama excludes Jordan from his own story.”
Original Score: 2/4
Chris Hewitt
Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Michael Jordan reportedly insisted on Davis as his mom, which suggests he might have a future as a casting director.”
Original Score: 3/4
Odie Henderson
Boston Globe
“The entire cast does some of their best work.”
Original Score: 4/4
Randy Myers
San Jose Mercury News
“While material like this might sound like it could be deadly dull for anyone uninterested in sports and shoes, Affleck’s heartwarming story holds appeal for all.”
Original Score: 4/4
Ray Greene
AV Club
“Air feels like a gently satirical movie about corporate skullduggery. But it’s really a sports picture, where outcomes are determined by dedication, and a purity of purpose no one else can match.”
Original Score: B
Justin Chang
Los Angeles Times
“Unsurprisingly, the well-worn Matt-and-Ben screen rapport gives Sonny and Phil an instantly readable, affectionately combative dynamic, as well as an understated emotional core.”
Gary M. Kramer
Salon.com
“Watching Sonny and Deloris square off here is where the film’s real heart and tension are.”
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
“Air is that rare sports movie that is virtually guaranteed to appeal to both hardcore NBA fans and people who don’t know a three-point line from a field goal.”
Original Score: 3/4
Lindsey Bahr
Associated Press
“Air coasts quite well on its compelling, funny and self-aware script and charismatic movie stars. And Damon, who gets one show-stopping monologue, is the perfect actor to carry the film in his first time acting for his old pal.”
Original Score: 3/4
Barry Hertz
Globe and Mail
“A well-oiled machine of a movie, as slick and convincing as its obvious show-me-the-money inspiration. It had me at, “Just Do It.””
Anthony Lane
New Yorker
“This movie, in short, kneels at the altar of high capitalism.”
Johnny Oleksinski
New York Post
“It’s far and away the most likable film released so far this year.”
Original Score: 4/4
Candice Frederick
Huffington Post
“Consider this framing all in the name of a thrilling cinematic experience that serves the main objective of every film: to tell a great story. And “Air” is a riotous, worthwhile and surprisingly heartfelt film that does just that.”
Matt Singer
ScreenCrush
“A biopic with real sole.”
Original Score: 8/10
Christy Lemire
RogerEbert.com
“For the most part, [Air] is as smooth and reliable as one of Jordan’s buzzer-beating, fadeaway jumpers.”
Original Score: 3.5/4
Aisha Harris
NPR
“A soulless dramatization of how a giant corporation convinced a promising NBA rookie to make its already wealthy and well-off board members, CEOs, and salespeople even wealthier and set for life.”
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
“This film winds up looking like the most expensive in-house corporate promo in history: shallow, parochial and obtuse.”
Original Score: 2/5
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
“Ben Affleck’s film reminds viewers that the boardroom game can be as tense, unpredictable, and exhilarating as the one on the court.”
Original Score: 3/4
Katie Walsh
Tribune News Service
“Affleck’s treatise on the film industry and the perils of celebrity, shoehorned into a biopic of a brand… Affleck applies just the right elements to make it sing.”
Original Score: 3/4
Nick Schager
The Daily Beast
“A rousing underdog saga that—like Ben Affleck’s prior directorial efforts Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo—has the type of snappy energy and charm that should earn it a long post-theatrical shelf life.”
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
““Air” is that most familiar and satisfying of movie stories: believing in yourself and persuading other people to accept your quest, despite long odds and questionable methods.”
Original Score: 3.5/4
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
“It’s ridiculous how entertaining “Air” is given that it’s about shoes, even if it works overtime to persuade you that it’s also about other, nobler truths, too.”
Richard Lawson
Vanity Fair
“Air is smartly acted and agreeably paced, a drama of invention that warmly invites the audience into an interesting process… [But] I am finding it hard to be moved by stories of lucrative business. Congrats, I guess?”
Adam Graham
Detroit News
“Affleck stacks the odds so high against Sonny and his team that it feels like hitting a game-winning shot when Jordan agrees to the deal.”
Original Score: B
David Fear
Rolling Stone
“Coasts by on good will and a real-life success story piggybacking on another real-life success story, until Davis shows up and turns it into something deeper.”
Brian Lowry
CNN.com
“Capturing the nexus between sports and business in a glow of ’80s nostalgia, it is, like its inspiration, a winner.”
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
“Air is a good time, as well as a triumph of sports marketing in every conceivable way.”
Original Score: 3/4
Max Weiss
Baltimore Magazine
“Only Affleck and Damon could turn this tale of corporate triumph into a scrappy underdog story.”
Original Score: 3/4
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
“The year’s best film so far…”
Original Score: 4/4
Stephen Romei
The Australian
“Messina steals scenes as the highly strung sports agent…”
Ben Affleck has directed the film and a new writer has written the film called Alex Convery. Matt Damon leads the cast while the supporting actors include Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Matthew Maher, Tom Papa, Joel Gretsch, Gustaf Skarsgård, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon and Jessica Green.
Air is currently playing in select theatres in the USA.
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