Film: Air

 

GENRE: Bio Drama
RATING: R for language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 51 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Matt Damon (The Martian, Good Will Hunting, Ford v Ferrari)
Jason Bateman (Ozark, Game Night); Ben Affleck (Gone Girl, Argo)
DIRECTOR: Ben Affleck (Argo, The Town, Gone Baby Gone)
WRITER: Alex Convery (newcomer)
PLOT: The story of how Sonny Vaccaro led Nike in its pursuit of signing Michael Jordan for its shoe line.     

FULL DISCLOSURE: I know next to nothing about basketball.

STORY STUFF: What a captivating story. I’m surprised how many movies are being made about contract negotiations but I was hooked the entire time. I knew nothing about this deal. I didn’t know that Nike was an underdog, the NBA had colour rules concerning shoes, or that Michael was being pursued before even stepping on an NBA court. I know there are Air Jordans, so I know how it ends but I was fascinated with how it came to be. Doing a bit research, there are only a couple differences between real life and this dramatization. Things like shorten timeline, money amounts and who met who when, but these are not like the tacked on car chase at the end of Tetris. I like me a good underdog story and this one even brought a tear to my eye.

ACTING STUFF: Damon may look pudgy on screen but he’s giving it all as Sonny Vaccaro. He is earnest and committed and an absolute treat to watch. Affleck casts himself in the fun, quirky role of Nike CEO Phil Knight and gets to have great conversations with Damon. Bateman brings his own wonderful mix of questioning and exhaustion. Chris Messina (Newsroom, Mindy Project) is hilarious as the Ari Gold-ish obscenity spewing agent, David Falk. His phone conversations with Sonny bring the biggest laughs; I was in tears. I even liked Viola Davis as Michael Jordan’s mother. I’m not a fan of the actress but she rocks this role. I can see some acting Oscar nominations for this film. Funny, how Air was originally just intended to stream on Amazon Prime.

ARTISTIC STUFF: While Tetris had some fun 80’s technology, this film takes the nostalgia to a whole new level. Loads of eighties memorabilia and music fill the screen. While I loved the music choices, the placement was a bit odd at times. Mike + the Mechanics’ “All I Need is Miracle” would be better suited before the Nike meeting, wouldn’t it? There is a lot to praise but I’ll end with Affleck’s wise choice to keep us from seeing Michael Jordan in the film. We only see his back and or just the bottom of his body. The emphasis isn’t on Jordan but the deal. Besides, anyone playing Michael Jordan could not possibly live up to the hype.  

VERDICT: Five stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like a good underdog story, great acting and shoes.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3

Film: Tetris

 

GENRE: Bio Drama
RATING: R for language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 58 minutes
PLATFORM: Apple TV+
STARRING: Taron Egerton (Rocketman, Kingsman, Robin Hood)
Mara Huff (newcomer); Toby Jones (Captain America, Hunger Games)
DIRECTOR: Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie, Filth)
WRITER: Noah Pink (Genius – TV series)
PLOT: Behind the scenes of Russian contract negotiations surrounding Tetris being brought to America and the world.     

FULL DISCLOSURE: I like Tetris.

STORY STUFF: This film is a mash up of The Social Network, The Americans, Halt and Catch Fire with an ending much like Argo. Not bad company to be among but not really original either. The initial appeal of Henk Rogers learning about Tetris goes a little quick. I thought the film would focus on this more. The majority of the film revolves around securing licensing rights from the Russians as the USSR is crumbling. Odd how much they care about a video game. This film could have been a good twenty minutes shorter. There are some facts here and there but the car chase is completely fabricated. The story is interesting but not captivating.         

ACTING STUFF: Egerton plays up the energetic salesman well but he’s the only really standout in this film. Most of the other characters are just too cartoonish. One of the Russians is just too sinisterly evil to take seriously. Ah well.   

ARTISTIC STUFF: I love seeing all the old eighties technology. Nothing like the nostalgia of the old school floppy disks. I like the Tetris-y establishing shots of different cities. There are also some misplaced digital add-ons in the chase scene that would only work if it was used a couple more times in the film.     

VERDICT: Two stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You have like contract negotiations and the 80’s Russia.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Air