Air ★★★½

SOME critics have dismissively referred to Ben Afflex’s Air as a movie about a contract being signed – for a shoe.

That’s true and, more importantly, despite its genre being sports drama, there is no sport and little drama.

You also barely see the actor who plays the famous wearer of  said basketball shoe – Michael Jordan.

So, why does the film still work? Three reasons.

Firstly, it takes us to somewhere different – behind the scenes of professional sports marketing and focuses on a particular story in 1984 that forever changed the way that business worked.

Before Nike clinched the deal and stole Jordan from Adidas, they had to relent on years of business process and give the future basketball star a share of money earned from each purchase of an Air Jordan.

Secondly, it’s very well written by first-time screenwriter Alex Convery who demonstrates both a great grasp of the material and ability to make the potentially mundane interesting and engaging.

Thirdly, it’s brought to life by a very good cast led by Matt Damon as Nike basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccarro. Damon’s performance humanises the story and creates the emotional stakes.

His support includes Affleck himself as the boss of Nike, Jason Bateman as Nike’s boss of marketing, the wonderful Viola Davis as Jordan’s mother and Chris Messina as Jordan’s mercenary agent.

Perhaps there is a better, more expansive way to tell this story that features more of Jordan and basketball.

But hey, you can only review the film you see and Air is a winner in the same vein as Moneyball.