TALKING THE TALK

IN A MOVIE [THAT FEELS LIKE A PLAY] ABOUT THE BIRTH OF THE AIR JORDAN BRAND, BEN AFFLECK GETS HIS STAR-HEAVY CAST TO PHONE IT IN-TO GREAT EFFECT

- MARK BECHTEL

GROWING UP on Long Island in the 1980s, Chris Messina wasn't the world's biggest sports fan. "I was the theater kid, so I was running away from getting beaten up by the football player," he says with a laugh. But even he couldn't help but be mesmerized by Michael Jordan. "I just remember him literally flying through the air," Messina says. "I was into dancing-my mom was a dance teacher-so the idea that someone could jump like that through the air was remarkable."

It's a bit ironic, then, that Messina is now one of the stars in a movie about the creation of the Jordan mythos that features none of what drew so many people to him in the first place. Air has no flying, no dunking, no tongue-wagging. Save for a few brief clips of North Carolina game footage, Jordan's face is never seen. All viewers get is the back of his head, and his voice is heard ever so briefly on the phone. He's like George Steinbrenner on Seinfeld-only if Seinfeld was a show entirely about the Yankees.

Director Ben Affleck considered deep-faking a young Jordan into the movie, but he wasn't sure it would look authentic. And he also came to realize that Jordan's story could be told better with a less-is-more approach. "You hear the famous story about the special-effects shark not working [and limiting its appearances], and it ends up making Jaws more effective," Affleck says. "It means that [Jordan] is even more elusive, mysterious and magical. You never see him, but he's everywhere."