‘Air’ will aim for comedy/musical nominations at the Golden Globes [Exclusive]

Joyce Eng
·2 min read
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“Air” will shoot for Golden Globes — but not as a drama. The Ben Affleck-helmed film will submit in the comedy/musical categories, Gold Derby has learned exclusively.

Matt Damon will seek his second Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical Actor (never forget his first win for 2015’s “The Martian”). The rest of the cast will run in supporting, including Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Julius Tennon, Chris Tucker and Viola Davis. The categorization does not affect them as the Globes have genre-neutral supporting categories.

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The sports drama chronicles talent scout Sonny Vaccaro‘s (Damon) quest to sign Michael Jordan to the then-fledgling Nike in 1984, which led to the Air Jordan line that revolutionized athlete endorsement deals. It’s also a slick crowd-pleaser peppered with funny moments, mostly from Messina, who plays Jordan’s agent, David Falk, and has several hilariously vulgar phone call scenes.

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In comedy/musical, “Air” will compete alongside the likes of “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” “The Holdovers” and “Poor Things,” all of which are currently predicted to get Best Picture Oscar nominations (“Air” is in 13th place).

“Air” was one of the early awards contenders of the year, hitting theaters on April 5 — its release date, 4/5/23, is a nod to Jordan’s jersey numbers — to positive critical and audience reception. Damon, who was directed by Affleck for the first time in their decades-long careers/friendship, delivers a key monologue at the end of the film that is tailor-made for awards clips. Davis, whom Jordan requested to play his mom, Deloris Jordan, has long been earmarked as a supporting actress contender. Her performance is highlighted by Deloris’ lengthy, steady negotiation over the phone with Sonny to secure the game-changing deal for her son (yes, “Air” has lots of great phone acting).

“Air” grossed $90 million worldwide and dropped on Amazon Prime Video on May 12. Its Blu-ray and DVD were released Tuesday.

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