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Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr star in this action-comedy about American pilots who get caught up in a government-sanctioned opium trade in Vietnam War-era Laos. Once the pilots realize they’re about to be framed by one of their commanders to appease a head-hunting politician, they have to find a way to save their reputations and their lives.

Air America is kinda heady stuff for an action-comedy, and I have to give it credit for shedding light on a shady footnote in American history. But at the same time, it’s just not that great of a movie. The script is a mess. It meanders for far too long, trying to be an irreverent buddy flick, before getting down to its narrative business. Once it focuses, it’s certainly better. But the main storyline resolves well before the ending, and the last ten or fifteen minutes feel like an unrelated subplot. Neither Gibson nor Downey Jr really get to shine, possibly because the film never really settles on a tone. Both actors generally do well in over-the-top personification, but Air America tries just hard enough to be serious to castrate both actors’ potential. The cheezy score by Charles Gross is another miss, as is the ‘desperate to be a hit album’ collection of songs scattered throughout the movie.

With Marshall Bell, Nancy Travis, and Tim Thomerson.