There are films, generally good ones, that allow you to interpret and break them down in different ways. Aria: the story behind the logoFrom Ben Affleck and with Matt Damon, how Nike convinced Michael Jordan to sign with her, is a very clear example.
Because we can understand that this is a man, stubborn but resourceful, who against all odds gets what he wants – no Michael Jordanat least not in this film, but Sonny Vaccaro, the character played by Matt Damon-.
Also, it’s a movie about a big company that does whatever it takes to make more money.
A story about the benefits of capitalism.
Or how the American dream is – or was in the 80s – possible.
For context: In 1984, Nike was a running shoe brand, wanting to get into the basketball business, when Converse and Adidas ran the market.
They have a limited budget and want to sign three NBA players for (self) promotion. But it is Sonny Vaccaro, basketball guru, who against the advice of his superiors, such as Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike (a secondary role that Ben Affleck has kept to himself), or Trob Strasser, the skeptical but intelligent executive who composes Jason Bateman and marketing maven Howard White (Chris Tucker) decide to go all-in on one player. Yes, rookie Michael Jordan.
Vaccaro was also a player in Vegas, a guy who knew both basketball and stats and had what’s called nose, intuition, or just plain luck when it came to betting on anything.
Jordan, invisible in his own film
Weirdest of air It’s that Michael Jordan himself, who is the center of the matter, is virtually invisible in the film. If he appears, he does it from behind. He’s an insignificant character in the plot, because for some reason he’s delegated everything, absolutely everything, to his mother Deloris (Viola Davis).
The reasons why director Ben Affleck chose this option could have not one but several causes: showing the crest, one of the best athletes in history, with the face of an unknown actor, could lower the price of characterization. The other is whether he wanted to play mystery.
And there’s a third: delegating so much power to Deloris, the character’s need Matt Damon for currying favor with and winning over the only strong strong female character in the entire film.
What Affleck didn’t spend to find an actor similar to the winner of 6 NBA rings with the Chicago Bulls, we see that he put into the purchase of the rights to emblematic musical themes of the 80s. Name one and you will hear it in the cinema.
I have said on other occasions – and I support it – that Affleck is a better director than a performer. All in all, Air is not the most remarkable, if we recall disappeared one night, Dangerous attraction (The city) OR Argon. It has a dizzying pace: Affleck has the ability to get us into the plot and make us interested in his characters, which is as simple as it is necessary for a film to captivate us.
And it has his old friend Matt Damon in the lead role, what works so well for the actor of rescue mission: that of the common man, involved in an extraordinary circumstance.
It also featured two of her favorite actors: Chris Messina, Jordan’s prostitute agent, and Matthew Maher, as Peter Moore, the sneaker design genius who works in the basement of Nike.
Affleck stuck to the role of billionaire Knight, slipping comedic lines or spitting aphorisms into him and looking zen but worried about his cherry-colored sports car.
“Aria: The Story Behind the Logo”
Drama. USA, 2023. Original title: air. 112′, ATP with legend. From: Ben Affleck. With: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans. Rooms: Cinemark Caballito, Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Hoyts Unicenter.
Source: Clarin
