Review: 'Air' is a smart, inspirational telling of how Nike wooed a player and changed the world.

It’s easy to go into “Air” with the low expectation that it’s a two-hour informercial for Nike — and while the famous swoosh is seen often, the movie uses its corporate connections to tell a lively, and ultimately important, story of how a shoe changed the world.

“Air” is also a reminder that Ben Affleck — when he’s not busy with his second career as paparazzi target and meme generator — is really good at directing movies, as if “Argo” winning the Oscar for Best Picture wasn’t enough of a clue.

This “based on a true story” movie starts in 1984 in Beaverton, Oregon, the headquarters of Nike, which at the time had a reputation for track shoes but wasn’t the leader in athletic wear. The movie that informs us that Nike is third in the market, with Converse leading the way and Adidas a solid second place.

Nike basketball scout Sonny Vaccaro — played by Affleck’s frequent tag-team partner, Matt Damon — knows Nike’s biggest weakness: It doesn’t have a great basketball shoe, or the money to lure the top players to sign endorsement contracts. Vaccaro knows that Converse has the prestige, having Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in their stable, and Adidas has the cool factor, with Run-DMC rapping about the brand. As the company’s marketing boss, Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), tells Vaccaro, Nike has an endorsement budget of $250,000 to lure three mid-level NBA draft picks. (Utah Jazz legend John Stockton is mentioned, in a running joke about how nobody knows where Gonzaga is.)

Vaccaro, who’s got a gambling issue, wants to bet the whole $250,000 on a single player: North Carolina phenom Michael Jordan. Unfortunately, Vaccaro can’t even get in the room with Jordan, blocked by his agent, David Falk (Chris Messina, who’s the funniest and most foul-mouthed performer in the movie). When Falk tells Vaccaro that Jordan is favoring Adidas and doesn’t even want to meet with Nike, Vaccaro takes a big risk by going around Falk to talk directly to Jordan’s mother, Deloris (Viola Davis). Deloris is irritated at first, but ultimately intrigued by Vaccaro’s pitch. Nike is suddenly back in play.

Now it’s up to Vaccaro to sell his boss, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight (played by Affleck), on the idea — with help from the well-connected exec Howard White (Chris Tucker). And Vaccaro has to enlist Nike’s top shoe designer, the mad genius Peter Moore (Matthew Maher), to create the best basketball shoe ever made. (Maher, the movie’s stealth MVP, was in Affleck’s “Gone Baby Gone,” and made his movie debut in Kevin Smith’s “Dogma,” in which Damon and Affleck played fallen angels.)

Working off a smart script by first-time screenwriter Alex Convery, Affleck paints an indelible picture of a company at a crossroads — established enough to have Knight answer to a board of directors, but scrappy enough to roll the dice on Vaccaro’s hunch. Some of the movie’s best moments come from that conflict, as Vaccaro argues with Knight about why bucking industry protocols is worth it to land a once-in-a-lifetime player. Seeing Damon and Affleck lean into those roles makes the bickering even more fun.

At first, Davis’s Deloris Jordan plays as inconsequential to the main drama, an obstacle for Vaccaro and Knight to overcome. But, of course, Davis doesn’t let that mistaken impression last — particularly in a late-in-the-game phone call, delivered with a tigress purr by Davis, that displays Deloris’ negotiating savvy and recognition of her son’s unique talent.

“Air” winds up being as much of an inspirational sports drama as anything where a ragtag team has to score in the closing seconds. Even in the corporate world, the movie tells us, it’s important to be like Mike and take that shot.

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‘Air’

★★★1/2

Opens Wednesday, April 5, in theaters everywhere. Rated R for language throughout. Running time: 112 minutes.