Running or flying – this alternative is not immediately obvious. Because one is a form of locomotion that belongs to man from the beginning, but the other has always been a dream, something for the myth. Even today you can feel something of the audacity of flying, when the engines are set to thrust during a start and you are pressed a little into the seat. We can run at any time, but to rise into the air, it takes a considerable technical effort, apart from courageous paragliders.

In 1984, the American sporting goods manufacturer Nike was primarily a brand of running shoes. In basketball, the competition dominated: Converse and Adidas. The three stripes made in Germany had a high status in popular culture. The rappers Run-D.M.C. even dedicated a song to their Adidas sneakers. And yet, to stay with the metaphor, the market was still within walking distance at that time. He first had to be made to fly. This is the story told by the film "Air" by Ben Affleck.

It is also the story of one of the greatest athletes of all time: Michael Jordan became a legend in the highest American basketball league NBA. In "Air", however, he is only seen very briefly and as a marginal figure. Because it's about the decision between running and flying. And she doesn't have to meet Jordan in 1984, who was just 21 years old at the time. It is the company Nike that is facing this decision. She has set aside $250,000 to invest in basketball as well. Sonny Vaccaro is the name of the man who is looking for new talent. He takes notes on young men who have attracted attention in the college leagues and who are now about to jump into the NBA. Nike doesn't necessarily need this market, on the other hand, basketball is kind of cool, and what company wouldn't like to take away new profit opportunities just like that?

But Sonny Vaccaro knows that you won't get anywhere with a half-hearted strategy. Of course, Michael Jordan is already familiar to the competition at this point, but the top dogs do not necessarily have a vision for him. They would just like to add him to their gallery. Nike, on the other hand, has bigger plans for him. But first Sonny has to make this clear to the management: the CEO Phil Knight, the head of department Rob Strasser. And in the background then a "board", because Nike had gone public four years earlier and had thus lost entrepreneurial agility.

At least that's how Sonny Vaccaro sees it, who, with every fiber of his appearance, is the opposite of "corporate" anyway: an average American with some bacon around his waist, carelessly dressed, he doesn't care about his image. He gets inspiration from studying videotapes and in the evening at the kiosk during small talk with the basketball fan at the cash register.

Matt Damon's heroes are grounded in everyday life

For actor Matt Damon, this Sonny Vaccaro is a prototypical role. Damon has become famous with American everyman, sometimes they also have what it takes to be an action hero as in the "Bourne" series, but often the heroic aspect of them is an emphasized normality, a grounding in an everyday life that may no longer exist outside the cinema. Damon is the regular white guy. In "Air – Der große Wurf" this predestines him for a special contact: He finds a personal access to the mother of Michael Jordan, a prudent African-American. Only through this conversation, for which Sonny drives to North Carolina, in a rental car with already (historical detail!) a car phone, Nike gets a chance to introduce itself to the young Michael Jordan.