Air

Ben Affleck keeps his subject out of shot. Michael Jordan appears, but his face is never shown and he barely speaks, so every scene is carried by people arguing about him. Alex Convery wrote the script after a short passage in The Last Dance; it made the 2021 Black List as Air Jordan. Jordan took no part in the film but met Affleck and asked for 4 things: that George Raveling, his assistant coach on the 1984 Olympic team and the first to tell him to sign with Nike, be in it; that his friend Howard White be in it, which is how Chris Tucker was cast; that Tinker Hatfield be dropped, since he was at Nike then but had no hand in making the Air Jordan; and that his parents be given more room. Casting Viola Davis as his mother was Jordan’s idea; Affleck and Matt Damon did an uncredited pass to fit it all in. Amazon planned a streaming only release, reversed it after test screenings, then spent $7 million on a Super Bowl advertisement. A good fit if you like knowing who asked for whom: the coach put in, Tinker Hatfield taken out, the parents enlarged. Not for you if you came to watch Jordan play; he is kept out of shot on purpose.