‘Air’ is full of wit, profanity, sports talk, and strategy

When the term “talkie” was decided upon at the end of the silent film era, it was meant to usher in the advent of sound. These days it has a different meaning: After three weeks of movies dominated by CGI, wizardry, and body counts, Air is a movie that focuses on talking — and acting.

The characters may not shape-shift or fly, but they’re witty and profane; they discuss business, ideas, sports, and strategy. Nobody gets killed in Air.

Except maybe Adidas.

Air tells the story of 1984 Nike, when the company was almost exclusively known for its running shoes and the basketball universe was dominated by Converse. Then Nike basketball guru Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon with a dad bod) had the bold idea to blow all their budget to try to sign a player he thought would change the game — Michael Jordan.

Except Michael Jordan didn’t want to sign with Nike.

What follows is the plan Vaccaro and Nike put together to go around Jordan’s agent, David Falk (Chris Messina, oozing grease and four-letter words) and go directly to Jordan’s savvy mother, Deloris (Viola Davis).

Anyone who remembers Spike Lee’s classic Nike commercials, has been in a sneaker store since “Live Aid,” or has ever wondered why Michael Jordan is a billionaire, knows how the story turns out, so there’s no more suspense than in any sports movie where the final score is known.

But the fun in Air is in the give-and-take of the game itself. How Vaccaro works with Nike sales strategist Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), NBA player rep Howard White (Chris Tucker), and shoe designer Peter Moore (Matthew Maher) to get into the shoe company lineup with the Jordans, and how Vaccaro cajoles reticent Nike CEO Phil Knight (Ben Affleck) into going all in.

The clothes, cars, and music are all vintage as is the partly fictional script by Alex Convery, which is smart, funny, eager to drop names of basketball stars but not so inside-basketball that non-fans won’t get it. Former Temple great Terence Stansbury, who was picked at No. 15 in Jordan’s 1984 draft, gets a shout-out.

Affleck does double-duty, also directing, exhibiting his ability to handle pace, tone, and dialogue as he has done in previous directorial ventures Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo.

In a world full of sequels and massively budgeted summer tentpole movies, the pitch meeting for Air would have been amusing, but Affleck and Damon now have their own production company and enough clout to get movies like Air made. Lucky for filmgoers, they have good taste in both movies and footwear.

(Rated R. Premieres Wednesday, April 5, in theaters.)