Air America (1990) – Film Review

Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Cast: Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr, Nancy Travis
Certificate: 15

By Sarah Morgan

What an odd film Air America is. It can’t quite make its mind up what it wants to be.

Is it a knockabout buddy movie (that’s certainly how is was marketed on its release in 1990)? A drama focusing on a scandalous real-life event? Or a straightforward actioner?

For me, the jury’s still out on that. And maybe that identity crisis is why the film wasn’t the major hit its director, Roger Spottiswoode, thought it would be. He’s interviewed among the special features claiming he was astounded when Air America failed to find critical or commercial success, but it remains one of his favourites among all the movies he’s worked on during an almost 60-year career.

“Nefarious activities”

It certainly had all the hallmarks of a hit, not least because it stars Mel Gibson, then a huge name thanks to the success of the Lethal Weapon series, and an up-and-coming young actor by the name of Robert Downey Jr.

They play Gene and Billy respectively, pilots working for Air America, a supposedly civilian airline secretly owned by the CIA. Stationed in Laos during the Vietnam war, their job involves transporting goods into hard-to-reach areas. However, some of those goods are drugs, which are being smuggled with the knowledge of the authorities.

As Billy grows increasingly disillusioned with his life in Laos, Gene simply wants to earn as much money as he can by selling black market weapons so he can live quietly with his wife and children.

We get to know the pair throughout the film, as well as their rather eccentric colleagues and the villainous authority figures who decide that the only way to prevent their nefarious activities coming to light is by framing the duo for drug smuggling.

“Misfiring”

I found the clash of genres jarring, with comedic elements misfiring and not sitting well alongside serious themes, including issues relating to the opium trade. It’s also supposed to be set during the late-1960s, and yet little is done to evoke the era; the two leads look as if they’re preparing to appear in an early-1990s shampoo commercial rather than dodging trouble in the jungles of South East Asia.

Having said all that, at the movie’s heart is a fascinating story. It would have been amazing to see it depicted in a more serious, dramatic fashion, rather than a rather lightweight treatment featuring cartoonish villains, one of whom is played by none other than Burt Kwouk.

This is one of those times when the special features are actually more interesting than the film itself. The release is packed with interviews, both new and recorded during filming on location.

Like the Air America company, the movie is a misfiring venture, but intriguing nevertheless.