Air

 There's one thing I look for in shoes - wearing one has to be better than not wearing any at all. I do not give a flying fuck about Air Jordans, and just about the only thing I know about Nike (other than their inhumane treatment of workers) is that it provided scion Travis Knight with the funds and leisure time to make his crazy dream of making a stop-motion animation studio possible.
 I know next to nothing about sports, let alone basketball, and have a hefty distaste for corporations and advertising. It was financed by Amazon. Why the hell should I watch this movie?

 Well.. I like Ben Affleck's movies. The guy's an amazing director, even when he's leaning populist as with Argo. And as it turns out, Air is a really good populist movie. Much better than Argo. Very engaging even if you're not interested in the subject, immaculately shot and paced, and full of snappy, funny dialog that recalls Sorkin but isn't quite as showy and twisty (the script is by Alex Convery, who has no other credits to his name so far).

 After a short barrage of nostalgia bait - the movie is set in 1984, and by golly it's not going to let you forget it - we're introduced to Sonny (Matt Damon), a guy who scouts talent for Nike's struggling basketball shoe division and the only guy who seems to give a damn about basketball there. After watching Michael Jordan (Michael Jordan) throwing a ball at a metal ring multiple times on his VCR one night, Sonny realizes that he's got to risk everything on hiring him to represent their shoes, despite the fact that more successful companies are courting him.

 So... well, he risks everything, wheels and deals until he manages to get Nike's director (Ben Affleck) on his side, and with a small team (Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker and Matthew Maher) he beats the odds and yadda yadda.
 I mean, there's no suspense here, you know how this is going to end. On top of that, as good as Damon is in the role, it's one of those characters that never fucking makes mistakes - the guy is honest, passionate, unnaturally shrewd and infallible in his instincts; the only thing he gets wrong is kind of a humble brag. A primum mobile character; Everything that happens in the movie is driven by him except for that little mistake (which provides the CEO a chance to dramatically step up).

 It should be annoying, but unless you're set on hating the movie, it's so well done it works. The character interactions are sometimes a bit didactical, but always fun, the story moves effortlessly and  is full of great secondary characters: special mentions go to Chris Messina for an inspired string of insults, and as always Viola Davis steals the show as Michael Jordan's mom; It's a really powerful performance.

 If I had to strain for something to dislike, it's the fact that this really is a pure crowd-pleasing film, mostly shiny surfaces and easy sympathy plays, about a corporate success story.

 There is a timid stab at pointing out the inequality in play, walls full of pictures of white millionaires look predatorily at the athletes they will profit off on, and some mention of the particulars of Jordan's ground-breaking deal with Nike, which I'm guessing is common knowledge to someone who knows something of the subject. But it's too little, and too celebratory of everything Nike to actually make an impression.

 Oh, I do actually dislike something, and it's a pet peeve: the soundtrack, with only a couple of exceptions, only chooses the most obvious, overplayed songs from the era, and edits them so that you get an intro and then the most famous part.
 Then again, it fits the bubblegum nature of the film; Something like, I dunno, Blasphemous Rumours wouldn't have fit very well. But still, come on - lots of other stuff to choose from. The 'Mats put out Let It Be that year; Just saying.