From constant closeups of 1980s products to an overbearing early ’80s soundtrack — one that includes not one, but two Violent Femmes songs — “Air” fits right into the current trend of capitalizing on ’80s nostalgia. “Air” is next in a 40-year-long line of films pandering to ’80s kids. Why does it kind of work?
“Air” shoots low and succeeds. It’s a classic star-studded mid-budget crowd-pleaser aimed at adults, a type of film we don’t really get anymore in theaters. It doesn’t try to make any grand statement on consumerism or change the myth of Michael Jordan — a myth solidified and made untouchable by the docuseries “The Last Dance.” It aims only to please. Some may find the film trite or say its story didn’t need to be told. They wouldn’t be wrong. But “Air” isn’t cynical in its approach. The cast and crew’s apparent excitement radiates off the screen, and this makes the film endearing.
The all-star cast smartly does not try to impersonate their real-life counterparts. Matt Damon (“Stillwater”) does his normal Matt Damon schtick, not an evocation of Sonny Vaccaro, which will play better to audiences coming for the star power as opposed to the Nike/basketball obsessives who know how Vaccaro acts and sounds. The rest of the cast acts likewise. Does it matter that Ben Affleck (“Deep Water”) doesn’t capture Phil Knight? No. At least not when it’s so much fun to see Affleck and Damon on screen together. The two friends have (as they always have when starring together) a palpable chemistry and it gives their banter a natural, pleasing flow.
“Air” doesn’t aspire to do much more than casually entertain. Despite all its crowd-pleasing charm, the film is devoid of substance. The film is background noise, something to have on television while you do chores around the house. But it’s hard to be frustrated when it succeeds at exactly what it sets out to do. “Air” is a film of fun moments, the climactic pitch to Michael Jordan being a particular high point as it feels like everything is finally coming together, but that makes it easy to come in and out of the movie as much as the viewer wants. It never does anything worthy of the viewer’s whole attention.
Shouldn’t we expect more from art? “Air” shares few narrative or aesthetic elements with the latest IP-driven blockbuster, but it shares one key similarity: This film is a product. It’s easily consumable and inoffensive to a fault. Narrative choices feel cheap and calculated, formulaic to the point where you can guess everything coming next, down to the songs on the soundtrack — the final “Where are they now?” montage set to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” is telegraphed earlier in the film when Vaccaro and Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman, “Game Night”) discuss the song’s meaning. The film, shot by frequent Quentin Tarantino collaborator Robert Richardson (“Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood”), looks as glossy and pristine as you would expect from a film that isn’t exactly a commercial, but does feel like one. The worst part of “Air” is that none of it is bad. The film sets such a low bar for itself that it all works. It’s just painfully dull.
Hollywood doesn’t make middlebrow adult dramas like “Air” anymore, at least not like they did 30 years ago. These films used to be a larger part of the industry, but now these stories usually end up as television series, if they are made at all. In that sense, “Air” is slightly refreshing; it exists in an industry disinterested in original stories. But if getting more movies for adults means more middling, pandering stories, do we really want that? Sure, this is better than a popular culture dominated by content for children, but shouldn’t we demand more films that take risks and get people out of their comfort zones? Adult audiences deserve better than feature-length Nike commercials.
Daily Arts Writer Mitchel Green can be reached at mitchgr@umich.edu.