AIR(Movie)

A shoe is always a shoe until someone steps into it.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon team up again to narrate a fascinating tale of Nike’s effort to revive its Basketball shoe division. It is also a tale of Michael Jordan’s pivotal or career defining decision to team up with Nike that would ultimately revolutionize the sneaker industry and establish him as one of the most iconic athletes in history.

The screenplay is dexterously woven around Nike’s principles, not necessarily in that order.

There are several riches to be savoured.

How would you identify who is the right person for reviving the fortunes of a division? To what extent will you go to woo that person? How creative can you get in the whole process to pip past the competition?

Can the shoe be a physical manifestation of the individual, rather than the individual as an emblem of the corporate entity?

AIR traces the birth of AIR JORDAN, a shoe(line) built around Michael Jordan tapping deeper into his identity. Jordan is the shoe and the shoe is JORDAN.

Conviction and courage drive this taut narrative with rich lessons in talent acquisition, marketing, branding, selling and negotiation.

Matt Damon’s pitch to clinch Jordan is as profound as it can get. Interestingly, it is just not Matt Damon( Nike’s representative) believes so, but also Jordan’s mother.

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We need you in these shoes not so you have meaning in your life. But so that we have meaning in ours. Everyone at this table will be forgotten as soon as our time here is up. Except for you, You are gonna be remembered forever because somethings are eternal. You are Michael Jordan. And your story is gonna make us want to fly

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AIR is streaming on Prime. You may want to catch up with AIR this weekend.