Follows the history of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball, Michael Jordan.Follows the history of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball, Michael Jordan.Follows the history of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball, Michael Jordan.
- Awards
- 1 win
- Michael Jordan
- (as Damian Young)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Big Cars, Big Dreams With the 'Air' Cast
Big Cars, Big Dreams With the 'Air' Cast
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThough Michael Jordan was not directly involved in the film, Ben Affleck consulted him numerous times to get details on how to accurately portray the story. According to Affleck, Jordan's only two requests were that Viola Davis play his mother and that his longtime friend Howard White be included in the film. Affleck always wanted to work with Chris Tucker, so he was cast as White. Tucker was also friends with White, and Affleck gave him a lot of flexibility for his performance.
- GoofsDespite Rodney Mullen inventing the Ollie Kickflip / Magic flip in 1983, it wasn't common for street skaters to do until the 90s. The first documented Ollie Kickflip performed in a street skating competition took place on August 25, 1990 again by Rodney Mullen, during the "Wheels of Fire" contest held in Vancouver, Canada.
- Quotes
Sonny Vaccaro: [to Michael Jordan] Forget about the shoes, forget about the money. You're going to make enough money, it's not going to matter. Money can buy you almost anything, it can't buy you immortality. That, you have to earn. I'm going to look you in the eyes and I'm gonna tell you the future. You were cut from your high school basketball team. You willed your way to the NBA. You're gonna win championships. It's an American story, and that's why Americans are gonna love it. People are going to build you up, and God are they going to, because when you're great and new, we love you. Man, we'll build you up into something that doesn't even exist. You're going to change the fucking world. But you know what? Once they've built you as high as they possibly can, they're gonna tear you back down - it's the most predictable pattern. We build you into something that doesn't exist, and that means you have to try to be that thing all day, every day. That's how it works. And we do it again, and again, and again. And I'm going to tell you the truth. You're going to be attacked, betrayed, exposed and humiliated. And you'd survive that. A lot of people can climb that mountain. It's the way down that breaks them, 'cause that's the moment when you are truly alone. And what would you do then? Can you summon the will to fight on, through all the pain, and rise again? Who are you Michael? That will be the defining question of your life. And I think you already know the answer, and that's why we're all here. A shoe is just a shoe until somebody steps into it. Then it has meaning. The rest of us just want a chance to touch that greatness. 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're gonna be remembered forever, because some things are eternal. You're Michael Jordan, and your story is gonna make us want to fly.
- ConnectionsFeatured in CBS News Sunday Morning: Episode #45.26 (2023)
- SoundtracksMoney for Nothing
Written by Mark Knopfler, Sting (as Gordon Matthew Sumner)
Performed by Dire Straits
Courtesy of Warner Records
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
It's also a pretty funny film ... more than I expected. Mostly due to Jason Bateman, Chris Turcker (who I am not a fan of, but is really quite good here) and a bravely self-deprecating Ben Affleck, although Dave Messina steals many scenes as Jordan's agent.
It's really so well put together than you start to forget that Nike is hardly an underdog, and this is really a film about a multi-billion dollar company becoming even bigger and making a soon-to-be-very-wealthy athlete even wealthier. It's a nice trick.
My only real complaint about the film is that it's WAY too dedicated to reminding you that it's set in 1984.
- rdoyle29
- Apr 12, 2023
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $90,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $52,386,940
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $14,456,279
- Apr 9, 2023
- Gross worldwide
- $89,186,940
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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