Air America



"Billy: Jesus! Who the hell is shooting at us?

Jack: Over here, everybody shoots at us."

1969: After buzzing a semi-driver, radio eye-in-the-sky Billy Covington(Robert Downey, Jr.) gets stripped of his pilot's license. No sooner does this happen then he gets a job offer from Air America, a covert airlift organization operating out of Laos. Once there, he finds the company full of lunatics, with perhaps the looniest being Gene Ryack (Mel Gibson), a self-proclaimed Buddhist who runs guns on the side. He also finds out the organization is secretly a drug-smuggling operation, run by Major Lemond(Ken Jenkins) and General Soong(Burt Kwouk).

Not to be confused with Air America Radio.

Tropes
"Hey, man, I'm 42 years old, I've never figured anything out in my life!"
 * Anachronism Stew: Not too bad, but some of the songs on the soundtrack actually came out after 1969.
 * Agony of the Feet: Gene relates a story about getting his toe shot off through the cockpit floor. He now keeps it in a jar around his neck.
 * The Bad Guys Win: In the end, Lemond and Soong get to continue smuggling drugs.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Gene, Billy, and Babo come to rescue Corrine from Soong's troops. When they find out a number of villagers also need saving, Gene dumps his whole stash of weapons(that he was planning to sell for his retirement) to make room for them, and then blows the weapons up so Soong's men can't use them.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: All the pilots are total loons, but still amazing pilots.
 * Casual Danger Dialog
 * Danger Deadpan: The pilots are also surprisingly calm, even when being shot at.
 * Deadpan Snarker: A few, particularly Gene.
 * Death Seeker: Gene seems to have shades of this.
 * Erudite Stoner: Babo.

"Rob: Is he dead?
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: See page quote.
 * Funny Background Event: In one scene at a restaurant, two Laotian lounge singers are singing America's "Horse With No Name". In Engrish.
 * Gallows Humor: Given the circumstances...

Gene: Well, Rob, if he's not dead, he's very, very calm."

"Gene: You know, Buddha said--
 * Granola Girl: Corrine, the Peace Corps volunteer who's totally savvy to Lemond and Soong's activities.
 * Gray and Grey Morality: There are definitely good guys and bad guys, but none of the good guys are pure white-hats, not even Billy and Corinne, who probably come closest, and none of the villains are pure black-hats, not even Major Lemond and General Soong. Yes, granted, Soong, Lemond, and Rob are drug runners, but there is no evidence that Lemond and Diehl are enriching themselves, and even Gene, who is more or less neutral for most of the film, points out that it is impossible to win a war in Southeast Asia without controlling the opiate trade, so Lemond and Diehl, and even Soong, are just doing what is necessary for the war effort. Ryack himself is a gun runner, and it is made clear that pretty much all the pilots are running illegal scams on the side. Corinne, again, might seem closest to being a pure white-hat, but she's dating Rob, one of the villains. Senator Davenport turns out to be a good guy at the end, but he's willing to look the other way at Gen. Soong's rather dodgy "recruitment" techniques. So all in all, no one in the film really seems all good or all evil.
 * Holiday in Cambodia: Pretty much the plot.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: At the beginning, a farmer shoots down a plane with a casual pot-shot.
 * Minion with an F In Evil: Rob Diehl
 * Percussive Therapy: After getting his pilot's license pulled, Billy kicks the shit out of a coffee table.
 * Retirony: Sort of; was working on his retirement, but in the back of his mind knew he was gonna meet "the golden BB" sooner or later.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran: Jack Neely, one of the older pilots, is a bit weirder than the others, and zones out during a tense moment at one point.
 * Sleazy Politician: Subverted by Senator Davenport. He tries to hit on Corinne at one point, but, at least as far as the big picture, he's as straight as an arrow.
 * What Does She See in Him?: Corrine is apparently dating Rob.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Billy lampshades it at one point:

Billy: Will ya stop with the whole Buddha thing? I just don't believe a real Buddhist would be in the gun-running business[...]

Gene: I didn't say I was a good Buddhist..."


 * Where Are They Now? Epilogue: A pretty funny one.