The Air Up There (1994)

★★
The Air Up There could have gone several different ways, and even though the story didn't quite go as I had expected, it still ended up with the Big Game at the End. Sports comedies in the '90s were a lucrative if creatively lacking genre. The formula often involved casting a recognizable actor and putting him in charge of a scrappy and inexperienced team that emerges as the victorious underdog. Emilio Estevez, Rodney Dangerfield, Rick Moranis, Whoopi Goldberg and Halle Berry (I'm counting Race the Sun too) took turns leading their teams to varying levels of success, and Kevin Bacon got his chance to play a coach who assembles a team to play against the intimidating and well-funded foe. These movies grew tiresome as the decade went on, and The Air Up There is no exception, though it does tinker with the mechanics of the outline made familiar by others and delivers a few unexpected detours.

Bacon plays Jimmy Dolan, an assistant basketball coach for a fictional college team who chases off a cocky recruit to open the film. His boss, head coach Ray Fox (Sean McCann), is entering his final season before retirement and is undecided on his successor. Jimmy's act did not secure him a spot at the top of the list for the job. Later at a dinner for the university administration, Jimmy drunkenly watches film footage of a school official on a missionary trip to Kenya when he eyes a tall and lanky kid in the background playing basketball. The player's reach is phenomenal, and his dunking ability looks fantastic. Desperate to prove himself worthy of the top spot, Jimmy travels to Kenya to meet with this mysterious player and hopefully recruit him to come back to the United States to play college basketball. Coach Fox is skeptical, but Jimmy is convinced that this player would be the perfect addition to the lineup.

Jimmy travels to Kenya and finally reaches the remote village where the kid in the footage lives. Saleh (Charles Gitonga Maina) is indeed a superb physical specimen. He is also the son of the tribe chief and has duties to fulfill for his people. Jimmy sells him the idea of studying in the U.S. to play basketball and return with a college education, but the sell isn't so easy due to current events. A copper mine mogul wants to take over the land to expand his business, but the tribe is pushing back and endures harassment like having its livestock stolen. Jimmy spends much of his time in Kenya living amongst the tribe members and learning of their traditions. He also meets a nun, Sister Susan (Yolanda Vazquez), who lives with the villagers and is hostile to Jimmy's presence. The movie at this point is a fish-out-of-water story with Kevin Bacon comedically adjusting to his new surroundings. This is a somewhat welcome direction for the story, especially since I expected Saleh to travel to the U.S. and be the misfit adjusting to the West.

This never happens, but unfortunately the story doesn't do much with Kevin Bacon. He gives a sincere performance and looks glad to be here. When the time comes to put together a team to play against the copper mine for a winner-takes-all showdown to decide who gets the land, the movie devolves into a standard sports movie complete with training scenes and growing camaraderie among the tribesmen-turned-players. Sister Susan is supposed to be the love interest here, but she and Jimmy have almost no chemistry. She spends most of the movie irritated at him. She warms up to him a little as the big game approaches, but their pairing seems forced rather than natural. The standout here is Charles Gitonga Maina. What a find he was. His performance is a delight to watch. He appears completely at ease in front of the camera in his first (and only) movie. The story of his discovery and eventual return to Kenya after a brief playing career in the U.S. makes for an interesting yet glum read.

Director Paul Michael Glaser (The Running Man) keeps things going and doesn't get too bogged down by the conventions of the genre. He and screenwriter Max Apple might have predicted what the audience might see coming and tried to mitigate some of that. For example, I half-expected Jimmy's team—with Saleh on the roster—to play against whatever team signed the cocky recruit from the beginning of the movie. Unfortunately, even though they set the movie largely in Kenya and removed the audience from the familiar settings of summer camps and high schools, the filmmakers still circle back to the reliable showdown between the favorite and the underdog. The Air Up There is light-hearted fare with little to offer outside of the endearing performances by Bacon and Maina. These two make the film watchable. Beyond them, there's little to enjoy here.

© 2023 Silver Screen Reviews