Ben Affleck’s “Air” has screened at SXSW to mostly positive reviews.
THR and The Austin Chronicle are mixed to positive. Variety, Deadline, Slash and The Wrap are very positive
The few reviews that are out there single out Ben Affleck’s direction, not to mention Viola Davis and Matt Damon’s performances. Mostly, they regard it as the kind of feel-good sports drama that rarely gets made these days.
The film will be released via Amazon’s worldwide theatrical rollout on April 5th.
Here’s an interesting detail about Affleck’s excitement about his own film, via Above the Line:
“Air” had been finished since last November and that Affleck was so high on the film that he pushed for Amazon to release the film in theaters in December and give it a last-minute Oscar push, sensing a weak Best Picture field. Amazon vetoed that, as the studio was planning a robust theatrical release given its high commercial hopes for Air — hopes that it didn’t want to see dashed by the December release of box office juggernaut Avatar: The Way of Water, which would surely have eaten it alive.
As I mentioned a few days ago, the marketing push behind “Air” has been in overdrive. Whoever is concocting it, it’s working. Barry Jenkins tweeted his approval. Paul Thomas Anderson liked it and now a Safdie is writing about his approval of the film.
I’m very much looking forward to watching this movie next week.