Affleck has made a number of nice movies in his profession, from the pulse-pounding heist flick “The City” to his Finest Image winner “Argo.” But, what’s most fascinating about “Air” is that it’s, on the floor, only a film the place a bunch of fellows speak on the cellphone or speak in an workplace constructing whereas attempting to make an enormous deal occur. There’s not plenty of motion within the cinematic sense, neither is there one thing as dramatic as a kidnapping like we had in “Gone Child Gone.” As a substitute, what we’re left with is a sports activities story that is not actually in regards to the sport in query (on this case basketball) and is, as an alternative, in regards to the individuals behind the scenes of 1 very particular aspect of the sport.

That being the case, Affleck would not take pleasure in attending to infuse the movie with precise on-the-court drama to beef issues up. It is a performance-driven, human piece of filmmaking that lives or dies by the phrases on the web page and the individuals saying these phrases. Fortuitously, the script by Alex Convery is a compelling one and the ensemble forged is stacked on this film’s favor, nearly ridiculously so. Damon is at his quiet, charming finest right here, whereas Viola Davis, maybe the best actor strolling the planet, lends her abilities for a wildly necessary supporting position as Deloris Jordan, Michael Jordan’s Mother.

That is simply the tip of the iceberg, as we additionally get nice performances from the likes of Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, and, slightly refreshingly, Chris Tucker. To not point out that Affleck himself is quite a lot of enjoyable as Nike founder Phil Knight. In any case, an A-list forged makes a film ostensibly a few shoe deal play like gangbusters. It’s a true crowd-pleaser with out a lot of something flashy to disguise the cracks within the pavement.