Oscar spotlight: Viola Davis rises to the top of her game in ‘Air’

Jacob Sarkisian
·5 min read
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Viola Davis shines in Ben Affleck‘s “Air,” which tells the true story of how Nike signed Michael Jordan and made the Air Jordan shoe. Matt Damon portrays Nike marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro who negotiates a deal with Jordan’s mother. As Deloris Jordan, Davis deliver a powerful performance.

The actress imbues quiet strength, a sense of duty and honor, and a fierce motherly love into the stony exterior of an ambitious woman who knows her son’s worth and loves her family. It’s an enjoyable performance and it helps elevate the film from the average depths it likely would have sunken to without her. And critics agree.

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Peter Travers (ABC News) explained: “Jordan himself insisted that only one actress could play his mom — EGOT winner Viola Davis. Smart choice since the triumphant Davis is a primal force who powers the role of Deloris by nailing every nuance with maternal fire and feeling.”

Ray Greene (The AV Club) observed: “Her fierce gift always eats the screen. For a masterclass in turning throwaway schtick into truth, watch Davis suppress a laugh when a meeting with the Teutonic directors of Adidas plays out as Vaccaro told her it would. We need to see Deloris’ bemusement, even if the Adidas suits can’t. Davis manifests the moment effortlessly.”

And Justin Chang (Los Angeles Times) wrote: “Jordan’s mother, Deloris, the solid rock and gently guiding hand behind his every career move. Deloris is played, superbly, by Viola Davis, whose soft-toned, gravel-edged voice is authority itself.”

However, despite her outstanding performance and those enthusiastic reviews, Davis is currently outside of our predicted nominees for Best Supporting Actress, which we currently think will be Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks (both “The Color Purple”), Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), and Julianne Moore (“May December”).

However, do not rule out Davis just yet. She is an academy favorite amassing four Oscar nominations and one win so far. She won Best Supporting Actress in 2017 for “Fences” while she was also nominated in that category in 2009 for “Doubt.” She also has two Best Actress bids to her name, too — for “The Help” in 2011 and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in 2021. She could land her fifth nomination with “Air,” not least because this performance fits several patterns that Oscar voters have stuck to.

First, she’s portraying a real-life person. We know Oscar voters like nominating actors for playing real people and that is no different in this category. Aunjanue Ellis was nominated in 2022 for her take on Oracene “Brandy” Price (the mother of Venus and Serena Williams) in “King Richard.” Amanda Seyfried landed a bid in 2021 for playing actress Marion Davies in “Mank.” And Kathy Bates was nominated in 202 for her work as Barbara “Bobi” Jewell (Richard Jewell‘s mother) in “Richard Jewell.”

Ellis and Bates are just two examples of supporting actresses earning Oscar bids for playing mothers. Academy voters love to acknowledge maternal figures in this category. Angela Bassett was nominated in 2023 for playing a mother (and a Queen) for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Scarlett Johansson was nominated in 2020 for playing a mother in “Jojo Rabbit,” Regina King won in 2019 for playing a mother in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and both Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”) and Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”) were nominated in 2018 for playing mothers, with Janney winning.

Plus, the academy loves a short but sweet performance that packs a punch. Davis doesn’t have much screen time in “Air” at all, but neither did Judi Dench in “Shakespeare in Love” or Ruby Dee in “American Gangster.” Dee only has about five minutes of screen time in “American Gangster” but was still nominated (for playing a mother!) for Best Supporting Actress in 2008. Meanwhile, Dench had around eight minutes of screen time in “Shakespeare in Love” but won Best Supporting Actress in 1999.

Other short but powerful performances include Anne Hathaway, who won in 2013 for “Les Miserables,” Gloria Grahame, who won in 1953 for “The Bad and the Beautiful,” and Beatrice Straight, who won in 1977 for “Network.” Davis was nominated for this type of performance in “Doubt,” in which she only appeared in one scene. However, it was a pretty powerful scene about a mother (!) trying to do her best for her son.

Davis knows how to make the biggest impact with what she’s given, whether that’s a leading role or a smaller supporting role and she does that again here in “Air.” She may not have the most screen time but, boy, does she make the most impact. And that makes her a sure-fire contender for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar this year. Let’s see.

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