Air (2023) review

Nike co-founder Phil Knight (Affleck) is concerned his company's sales of basketball sneakers is underwhelming (they're faced with competition from Adidas and Converse) and he might have to shut that division down, but scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) becomes convinced North Carolina shooting guard Michael Jordan is their next big star and, with the help of director of marketing Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) and graphic designer Peter Moore (Matthew Maher), they lure him and his parents to sign a (very lucrative) deal with them.  On the surface, it's an expensive advertisement for the Oregon-based athletic apparel corporation and a love letter to His Airness, but if you look a little closer it's really a gambling movie (directed by someone who's no stranger to a casino) about a bet a lot of people made that paid off for everyone involved: as we now know - and this takes a good amount of drama out of it - the individual they were putting all their chips on just so happened to be one of the greatest athletes who ever lived (who, ironically, also has a history of placing a wager or two).  It's brought up briefly and then quickly dismissed, so I'll bring it up once more: exactly where are the shoes manufactured?