'Air' tells the story of how Michael Jordan became a Nike brand. The performances take flight

“Air” is a bold name for a film, one word that its makers are banking on being iconic enough to draw you into theaters.

When it works, it works. After all, the character at the center of the film, directed by Ben Affleck, has one of the most common names in English, but for years if you said that name, everyone knew who you were talking about.

Michael.

As in Jordan. As in Air Jordan. As in the greatest basketball player in history. Yes, he is at the center of Affleck’s film, but not as a character. Played by Damian Young, we never really see his face clearly; he exists here mostly as a shadow, an idea — an ideal.

Instead, the film is about building the iconic brand that revolutionized shoe sales, sports marketing and the power athletes are entitled to regarding their image and likeness.

It’s a lot of fun.

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Matt Damon shines as Sonny Vaccaro

It’s also exceptionally well-acted. Matt Damon stars as Sonny Vaccaro, the ultimate basketball lifer, who we meet while he watches one of an endless string of high-school games, looking for the next great player he might steer Nike’s way.

Then he stops by Las Vegas, wins some money and blows it all. Sonny is a gambler, in other words. (Affleck has a great many strengths as a director; subtlety is not one of them.)

Back in Beaverton, Oregon, Nike’s headquarters, the basketball team is under the gun. They don’t have any big-time names wearing their basketball shoes. Jogging shoes (this is 1984, so no one called it “running” yet) were the coin of the Nike realm. There is even talk of cutting the basketball division.

But Sonny is tight with Phil Knight (Affleck), the CEO and co-founder, and he’s got an idea — a gamble.

He wants to use the entire basketball budget, which normally would be spread among a few prospective NBA players entering the draft, to go after a single player: Jordan.

Jordan wasn’t even going to be the No. 1 pick. He was projected to go No. 3 (and he did). But Sonny, the basketball guru, sees something in Jordan, and is willing to gamble the future of the entire basketball division on landing him. He assures a dubious Knight, as well as Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), the marketing director, that it’s a risk worth taking.

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One problem: Jordan hates Nike.

The smart money says he wants to sign with Adidas, something his bombastic agent David Falk (Chris Messina, having an absolute blast), confirms. So Sonny bucks protocol and goes around Falk (who is apoplectic) straight to the decision maker in the Jordan family: his mother Deloris (Viola Davis).

She is smart, she is driven and she is ruthless in the pursuit of what is best for her son, and Davis is a wonder to behold as she imparts all of those qualities. Deloris likes Sonny’s direct approach, but even she has a hard time getting Michael to take a meeting with Nike.

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Viola Davis portrays Michael Jordan's mother with unbending strength

This is important. There is a version of this movie in which the story of the empowerment of the most successful athlete of all time, a Black man, is a great-white-savior saga.

This isn’t that.

Yes, a bunch of white guys are scheming to get the deal done — Howard White (Chris Tucker) is the only Black executive we see at Nike headquarters — but ultimately a Black woman gets the job done.

You won’t mistake “Air” as advancing civil rights or anything, but through Davis’ depiction of quiet, unbending strength, you never doubt where the real power is. Nor do any of the other characters.

'Air' captures a time before Jordan was a household name

Affleck has a grand old time dropping in ’80s images, songs and anything else he can squeeze into the film. And as someone who was around for all of that, it actually works. But his greatest strength as a director is his work with the actors, all of whom are outstanding.

Damon shines as she schlubby Sonny, who seems to have no life outside of basketball, and who rises to the occasion with a sermon-like speech to the Jordan family about what Michael is and what he will become. Bateman is always a good choice for the slick-talking wheeler-dealer type, but he gets a shining moment when Rob reminds Sonny of what the risk really means.

And Affleck makes Knight a Zen-adjacent space cadet, all eager to quote Buddha. Just don’t say anything about the 11 coats of paint it took to get his grape-colored Porsche just right.

“Air” captures a time before — before social media made everything about everyone ubiquitous, all the time; before the NBA, led by Jordan, became the coolest sport around; and before Jordan was what he would become — not just a great player, but a brand.

“Air” isn’t a documentary, it's better — a brilliantly acted, fascinating true story.

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'Air' review 4 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Ben Affleck.

Cast: Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman.

Rating: R for language throughout.

How to watch: In theaters Wednesday, April 5.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Air' movie review: Michael Jordan Nike Air Force 1s almost didn't fly