Air America (film)

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Air America
Promotional movie poster for Air America.
Directed by	Roger Spottiswoode
Produced by	Mario Kassar
Written by	Christopher Robbins John Eskow Richard Rush
Starring	Mel Gibson Robert Downey Jr., Nancy Travis David Marshall Grant Lane Smith
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	August 10, 1990
Running time	112 minutes
Language	English
IMDb profile

Air America is a 1990 film starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr as Air America pilots in Vietnam War era Laos. They discover that the planes are being used by other government agents to smuggle heroin, and then must avoid being made patsies in a frame-up. The plot is adapted from the novel of the same title by Christopher Robbins.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Plot

In late 1969, Billy Covington is a pilot working for a local radio station in LA, who is fired when his hot-shot antics break a large number of regulations (although he was trying to save lives by breaking up a traffic jam that was preventing an ambulance from getting to a traffic accident). His piloting skills, daring, and disregard for the law are noticed by a mysterious stranger (strongly implied to be a CIA agent) who arrives and offers him a job in Laos, working for a "strictly civilian" company called Air America, and insisting that "there is no war in Laos, you can take that to the bank". With no other job, Billy takes the job and flies to Laos.

Upon arrival, he is introduced to the staff of Air America, and partnered up with veteran pilot Gene Ryack. By the end of his first day, he's learned that almost every pilot has his own side business, and Gene is an arms merchant (and uses official flights to buy black-market weapons for his private cache). That night at a local bar/brothel he quickly realizes what a strange and dangerous group he has gotten involved with.

The next day, Senator Davenport arrives in Laos on a "fact finding mission". Rumors are rampant in Washington that Air America is actually a heroin smuggling operation (which are true), and Davenport is there to verify this. However, Major Lemond and Rob Diehl, as the CIA leaders of Air America have a coverup already in place to deceive the Senator from finding out what is going on. Senator Davenport is shown around refugee camps, shrines & temples, and major cities in a careful deception to keep him out of the loop.

At the same time, Covington and Jack Neely are shot down in their C-123 cargo plane while airdropping livestock into rural villages. Air America stages a large rescue effort, although more effort is placed by General Soong and Air America itself to salvage his cargo (opium). They leave Covington and Jack in hostile territory while taking their cargo. Gene risks his life to pick him out in his UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, although it is so damaged in the effort that it also crashes (leading to Covington crashing twice in one day). Lost and out of touch, Ryack and Covington are stranded in the jungles of Laos when they are captured by a rural tribe. Facing hostile natives who apparently want to shoot them, Gene lets his business instincts shine through when he notices they are using obsolete and unreliable guns, and manages to convince them to spare their lives in exchange for him selling them better weapons (at his brother-in-law's house) several days away.

Back at Gene's family home, Billy and Gene discuss philosophy and why they fight. Billy decides he is going to quit Air America, but not before he gets even with General Soong for betraying him when he crashed. At the same time, Senator Davenport is getting upset that he is not being shown what is actually going on, and demands to know who is actually smuggling heroin. When Billy gets back to Air America, he buys some grenades on the black market and uses them to blow up the heroin factory. Unfortunately, the guards see him running away, and General Soong and Major Lemond have their fall guy.

The next day, Gene has found a buyer for all his weapons, and is going to finally sell his arsenal, get out of gunrunning, quit Air America and take his family out of the country. Billy is making a flight before he actually quits, and he is promptly called to land at an airstrip for "routine inspection", which is unheard of and certainly not routine. Expecting a trap, he searches his cargo to find several kilos of heroin hidden in flour sacks, and a large armed force waiting for him at the airstrip. He refuses to land and tries to fly away, only to find his fuel gauge has been tampered with and he's almost out of gas. He crashes his small plane on the same airstrip he crashed a few days earlier and uses the wreckage to hide in.

At this point, a slip of the tongue by Rob about not having enough fuel to escape gives the Senator a clue of what is really going on. The Senator tells Major Lemond he knows that the entire scenario is a set-up and he suspects who is really the heroin smugglers. Major Lemond dares the Senator to actually repeat his theories back in Washington, insisting he has enough political clout to survive any allegation.

Gene rescues Billy, yet again, from the abandoned airstrip. However, as he's picking up the last of his weapons, he receives a distress call from a refugee camp. Dozens of refugees are in mortal danger from being caught in the crossfire of two opposing armies, and they are the only plane in range which can evacuate them in time. Gene (with some help from Billy) decides to rescue the refugees and dump his cargo (using the explosion of his weapons cache to cover their escape). With no nest egg on which to retire, Gene comes up with the idea of selling their plane to retire on (since technically the US government has no presence in Laos, the plane can't be government property).