Air 2023
Affleck directs Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, the Nike exec who chased Michael Jordan in 1984. Amanda loves it and hates herself for loving it, since underneath the movie-star chemistry it plays like a well-dressed ad for Nike (and for corporations generally). Sean argues the same tension runs through Moneyball and nobody minds. Jordan himself stays offscreen (heard, rarely seen) so his real footage and The Last Dance don't have to compete with an actor. Viola Davis, as Jordan's mother Dolores, gets singled out as the film's best performance and the person who should probably be its protagonist. Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, and Chris Messina round out the supporting cast; Sean calls it a $90 million demonstration that movie stars and production value are the actual difference between this and the mediocre streaming version of the same story.
