Blogging By Cinema-light: Don't Make a Scene: Air (2023)

The Story: First off, I apologize if today's scene is difficult to get through. There are a lot of deletions and additions in the script portion that will make a cursory look at this post almost impossible.

But, I think it's worth it. This speech, the emotional high-point of Ben Affleck's 2023 film of Air—a film I highly recommend, both for its entertainment value and for the artistry involved in its creation—went to my highest priority list of "Scenes" I wanted to put "out there" on this blog, and I realized it even as it was playing before me in the theater (I'm sorry that so many of you missed it—but then, The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened that weekend too). This is a great scene, not only because it's well-written, speaks truth, but also because it haunts. "I'm going to look you in the eyes," says Nike marketing exec and talent scout Sonny Vaccarro to prospective endorser Michael Jordan, "and tell you the future." And then does.

And while he tells Jordan the generic "predictable pattern" of fame that happens "again and again and again" the highlights and low-lights of Jordan's career are inter-cut into the scene.

That's in the script by Alex Convery—the ~~strikeouts~~ and green additions are from the simplifying and polishing (and, let's face it, "dumbing down"—audiences would have zoned out at the emphasis on "contexts") done by Affleck and co-writer Matt Damon, who is also the actor delivering the lines. But, Convery wrote the scene and the strategy behind the scene, and it was important for me to show that in the simplest way possible...by showing the scene as it was actually written (but also acknowledging the work done to make it the best scene it could possibly be).

It's important for you to see that. There's a Writer's Strike going on right now (it's why the networks have a steady diet of game-shows on their schedules). None of the movie-images that swipe across your eyes happen in a vacuum (not even the ones from bad movies). They must be conjured, tapped out, and committed to format before anything can happen. And it's the Shock and Awe of those words that get the adrenaline going and the money flowing in the movie-making factories around the world.

If it doesn't happen, we get game shows, and that's never made anything good. Except for Slumdog Millionaire. Oh. And Quiz Show.

So, here's Convery's script of the scene and I've deleted what was deleted (but you can still read through the ~~strikeouts~~) and the words that were added, ad-libbed, or changed.

Jordan didn't co-operate with the film, other than to say "you can do it, but leave me out"—in fact, Jordan is treated the way Christ is in some religious epics, as a shadowy figure, a presence, but never the focus, we see people react to him—and had only two stipulations. He did say that he wanted Viola Davis to play his mother and that the story should include Howard White, who is currently the Vice President of Jordan Brand Affairs and had been there when Jordan was first approached by Nike (he'd been left out of the script). Viola Davis' husband, Julius Tennon, played Jordans' father, James—his future is part of the story, too.

Hope you enjoy.

The Set-Up: Nike marketing executive Sonny Vaccarro (Matt Damon) is a gambler. But, he rarely goes "all in"—except on the job. This time, an uninspired roster of possible Nike endorsers from the NBA has him upping his game. He wants Michael Jordan, who is looking to endorse another shoe brand. But, Sonny thinks he can get him...if they play their cards right. It's worked to the point where the Jordan family (Viola Davis, Julius Tennon and a mostly unseen Damian Delano Young) have agreed to fly to Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon to meet with CEO Phil Knight (Ben Affleck) and executives Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) and Howard White (Chris Tucker), and they've gotten to the lackluster highlight reel, when Sonny decides to "go for broke" just one more time.

Action.

The lights dim. The projector boots up.

And on the screen...

A highlight tape of Jordan’s UNC highlights set to the Pointer Sisters "JUMP".

Sonny watches the Jordan family closely.

Examining their faces for any sign or hint.

And it’s clear to him. They look bored.

They don’t look impressed.

Sonny looks around.

At Strasser. At Phil.

We see it in his eyes. He needs to do something.

SONNY ~~Hey. Hey. Shut the video off~~. I'm sorry.

SONNY Turn it off.

Everyone at the table starts to look around. What the hell is going on?

SONNY Rob...turn it off, please?

SONNY Just turn it off...

PHIL KNIGHT Sonny...Sonny (what the fuck are you doing?)...

Sonny stands up. The video abruptly halts.

SONNY (CONT'D) Hold on. Forget all this. Forget where we are. Forget Nike.

PHIL KNIGHT ~~Sonny..~~.

SONNY Let’s stop with the bullshit.

Sonny looks right at Jordan.

SONNY (CONT'D) Listen. Forget about the shoes.

SONNY Forget about the money. You’re going to make ~~so much~~

SONNY ...enough money that it’s not going to matter. ~~You’ll never want again~~.

SONNY Money can buy you almost anything...

SONNY but it can’t buy you immortality. That... you have to earn.

Sonny stares Michael Jordan right in the eye. He’s not scared.
SONNY (CONT'D) I’m going to look you in the eyes and tell you the future.

INTERCUT YOUNG MICHAEL PLAYING - HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE

SONNY (CONT'D) You were cut from your high school basketball...

SONNY ...team.

SONNY Willed your way to the NBA. You’re going to win championships.
SONNY It’s an American...

SONNY ...story. And that’s why America will love it.

INTERCUT FLASHES OF THE FUTURE: The Michael Jordan we all know. Skinny as a rookie, streaking down the court in iconic Bulls red.

SONNY (CONT'D) People are going to build you up,

SONNY ...god are they going to.

SONNY Because when you’re great...and new... We love you.

SONNY Man, we build you up into...

SONNY ...something that doesn’t even exist. ~~The entire nation is going to say they want to be like a black man from rural North Carolina~~.

SONNY You’re going to change the ~~god damn~~ fucking world.

Battles with the Bad Boy Pistons. Isaiah Thomas. Heartbreak.

The first title. Beating Magic Johnson. Sobbing with the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

SONNY (CONT'D) But you know what? ~~When~~ Once they’ve built you as high as they possibly can... they’re going to tear you back down. ~~They’re going to say, alright let’s find out what’s wrong with you~~.

SONNY It’s the most ~~cyclical~~ predictable pattern ~~with fame~~,

SONNY ...we build you into something that doesn’t exist

SONNY ...and that means you have to try and BE that thing. ~~until we find your flaws and then we rip you to shreds~~.

SONNY All day.

SONNY Every day.

The death of his father. Found murdered in a car. His retirement from Basketball. Taking hacks in the minors with the White Sox. Jordan rides the bus.

SONNY (CONT'D) ~~This person that we built into God isn’t a God, and that makes us feel better about ourselves, because we’re not Gods.~~ Because that’s how it works. And we do it again and again and again. ~~We can’t help but fall in love, we pretend it’s something that it isn’t, because we’re flawed.~~

Coming out of retirement. The “I’m back” press release. The second three-peat. Hitting the final shot of his Bulls career. The leap. The fist pump.

SONNY And I'm going to tell you the truth.

SONNY You are going to be attacked,

SONNY betrayed,

SONNY exposed,

SONNY and humiliated.

SONNY And you'll survive that.

SONNY A lot of people can climb that mountain.

SONNY It's the way down that breaks them.

SONNY Cuz that's the...

SONNY ...moment when you are truly...

SONNY ...alone.

SONNY And what will you do then? Can you summon the will to fight...

SONNY ...on. Through all the pain.

SONNY and rise...

SONNY ...again. Who are you, Michael?

SONNY That will be the defining question of your life.

SONNY And I think you already know the answer. And that's why we're all here.

SONNY (CONT'D) A shoe is just a shoe until somebody steps into it ~~wears it~~. Context is everything. Boring running shoe right? What if I told you it was the shoe that took the gold medal? Changes everything. Context is everything. All we’re doing is providing that context from the start.

SONNY Then it has meaning.

SONNY The rest of us just want a chance to touch...

SONNY ...that greatness.

SONNY And we need you in these shoes not...

SONNY ...so you have meaning in your life, but so we have meaning in ours.

SONNY A shoe that serves as a method of expression. A converse will always just be a converse. Your name isn’t on it. Yeah, you could be mentioned in the same sentence as Magic and Bird. But you know what’s better than that? (off MJ)

SONNY (CONT'D) ~~Being mentioned all on your own. A tier of one. We’re going to NAME the shoe after you. No one else has that. No one. Not Magic. Not Bird~~.