A true story movie with 93% on Rotten Tomatoes is on TV tonight

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star in the biographical sports drama.

The critically film sees Ben Affleck, who also directed the movie, play Phil Knight – the co-founder and CEO of Nike.

In the film, Knight tasks talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) in finding three NBA players for Nike’s basketball division to sign on and sponsor. Instead, Vaccaro wants to sign one and only one player: Michael Jordan.

Set in the ’80s, an interesting element of Air is that it depicts a time in which Nike was not the huge corporation it is now.

When JOE chatted to Affleck and his co-star Chris Tucker, who plays Nike executive Howard White, we asked the director about the challenges of selling a movie in which Nike is portrayed as the underdog.

“It is very difficult. That’s hard because you’re running counter to the audience’s understanding and expectations,” Affleck explained.

“They’re not going to assign underdog status or likeability status to giant corporations. But I do believe there was a spirit of kind of rebellion and revolutionary ambition to Nike.

“They were one of the first companies to sort of, they had these rules and some of them ended up being kind of random, like ‘live off the land’. Like, what do you mean? You guys are a shoe company. You’re living off the land? But some of them were about doing the right thing. Now, every company’s got an ethos and talking points but that wasn’t the case then.

You can watch Air on RTÉ 2 tonight at 9pm.

Here are the other movies on TV tonight:

Notting Hill – RTÉ1– 12.20am

Iconic romantic comedy written by Richard Curtis, starring Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Rhys Ifans, Emma Chambers, James Dreyfus and Gina McKee.

The Greatest Showman – Virgin Media One – 5.30pm

Musical drama, starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya.

Froggie – TG4 – 11.50pm

Two brothers, both veteran stage performers, discover their beloved puppet and vital prop Froggie has been stolen.

The Inbetweeners Movie – E4 – 9pm

The famous awkward teenagers plan a holiday to the Greek island of Crete after they finish their exams, hoping to experience drink, sex and debauchery beyond their wildest dreams.

The Hunter's Prayer – Legend – 1.20am

A drug-addled assassin goes rogue, opting to protect rather than take out his latest target.

New Year's Eve - ITV2 - 4.40pm

A fitting one for the day that's in it. Comedy drama, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Sarah Jessica Parker and Zac Efron.