The Last Dance? ‘One Man and His Shoes’ shows another side of the Air Jordan
- Documentary focuses on the building of a billion-dollar brand and the cost to the communities that drove the hype
- Yemi Bamiro’s film follows on from the success of hit ESPN-Netflix series ‘The Last Dance’
If the success of The Last Dance proved anything, it’s that people are happy to watch documentaries about Michael Jordan.
One Man and His Shoes comes along to fill a gap in the market, although as it was seven years in the making it is not exactly cashing in on the success of the ESPN-Netflix co-produced series that captivated the world earlier this year.
The film focuses its lens on how Nike cashed in on a rookie and backed his signature shoe line, but there are two sides to every story and director Yemi Bamiro tries to tell them for the Air Jordan.
One is about that remarkable growth of the Jordan brand on the back of Michael Jordan’s exploits and the marketing decisions that its parent company Nike was brave enough to take.
The other – which comes about two-thirds into the film – follows the flip side of making those Air Jordans such a desirable item, ending in robbery and murder in some of America’s poorest neighbourhoods.