Blistering performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

To be honest with you, the main reason I like this film is that parts of it were filmed in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, a Thai town in far northern Thailand where I have spent some time. But it's a fun film if you don't take it too seriously.What I find ironic about this film is that its 2 key stars -- Mel Gibson and Robert Downey -- both later fell from grace. Downey made his comeback. It's not clear if Gibson ever really will. Another irony is that Downey crusades against drugs in the film at the very time he was heavily involved in drugs. Ah well.Yes, these were the days when Mel Gibson was relatively young, handsome, and respected. He's good here, although this is not a particularly strong role. It's just a variation on a buddy pic.This was made right after my favorite Robert Downey film -- "Chances Are". He's good here, but he's been better.It was interesting to see Nancy Travis here, whom we later got to know from "Last Man Standing" on television. And Ken Jenkins, whom we later got to know as a character in "Scrubs". And I've always enjoyed character actor, the late Lane Smith. They all do pretty well here.I don't find a lot to complain about in this film. Nor do I find a lot to applaud. I don't think this film is as far from the truth as some of our reviewers do. The drug lord here is clearly based on the infamous Khun Sa (the actor who plays the drug lord here even resembles Khun Sa).A bit of fun with a sort of buddy picture. That's what you have here.

Mel Gibson & Robert Downey Jr. play two renegade pilots working for a covert CIA project in Laos during the Vietnam war. Downey is the new recruit who is still trying to adjust to the place and crazy missions he must fly. Gibson is the seasoned veteran who tries to teach him the ropes, all the while trying to remain above the increasingly out-of-control escalation of the war they are a part of, but grown cynical over the U.S. involvement, which isn't really legal, and certainly not public...Good lead stars cannot do much with such a jumbled and confusing story, that never leads anywhere, and is mostly a series of comedic vignettes that struggle to say something serious among the bizarre(yet dangerous) happenings.It just doesn't work.

Yeah, it's an "action flick"--lots of explosions, tough-guy posturing, bombast--but it also has depth.If you like good writing, good scenario work, fine acting (including "minor" roles), and realpolitik, you could spend a far worse 90-odd minutes of an evening.And seeing it reminds me of an amazing fact: Behind the macho action swagger of Gibson beats the heart of a truly great actor. And, I guess, the same has to be said for Downey; I watched this, in part, as a sort of "catch up" on his career after seeing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Nice to see him in his nubile years, and realize that he has accomplished more *with* his personal issues in tow than some of us accomplish while living within conventional bounds of correctness.And... Why does Downey always get these parts where he's the voice of down-home morality in a sea of squalor? Anyway: Check it out.

Here in the UK we have Harold Wilson to thank for refusing to send our soldiers to Vietnam.There are many reasons to consider Wilson,along with Blair both "socialists",the worst prime minister of the 20th century,but this single action will prevent him (as opposed to Blair)topping that particular poll.He rightly considered America's south east Asia policy to be none of our concern and propitiously declined to be involved in it. The obvious corollary to that statement you can fill in for yourself. That is not to say that the average Brit in 1969 was anything like anti - American.As usual the lunatic fringe made the most noises,stormed the embassy,threw marbles at police horses and generally alienated the very people they should have been trying to get onside. All of this is perhaps a rather long - winded way of demonstrating that Post - Vietnam guilt is not part of our culture,although heaven knows we understand post - colonial guilt well enough. Therefore we can watch movies about the Vietnam war with far more detachment than the Americans who appear to feel the need to apologise for the miscalculations of long - gone presidents and ignore the traumas of the veterans who were conscripted - many against their will,most against their better judgement - to fight in a desperately hostile and alien environment.These men I salute,the apologists I disdain. "Air America" is a very fine movie showing how men involved in conflict take what comfort they can,when they can,in any way they can.From the safety of our cinemas and living rooms we can scorn them and the way they live and think ourselves terribly liberal and morally perhaps even intellectually superior to these grunts,but perhaps we should remember that a liberal is just a fascist who hasn't been mugged. There are no starry - eyed idealists in modern war.The last ones perished in the Trenches - the pilots employed by the CIA were pragmatic skilled professionals who took risks only when no other option was open to them.They flew what they were told to fly and carried what they were told to carry.They didn't spend a lot of time agonising over what they were doing.It is this aspect of their lives that the movie concentrates on.Mr M.Gibson as the vet and Mr R.Downey jr. as the FNG are both excellent,particularly the former,who,along with Mr A.LaFleur acts as though he actually knows how to fly a plane. Sometimes strange and ostensibly undesirable alliances are made in war and I have no doubt the CIA dealt with Vietnamese Army officers and other officials using the most viable currency available - and if that turned out to be drugs,well,so be it.No amount of post - conflict hand wringing is going to make an iota of difference. "Air America" tells it's story straightforwardly and doesn't back away from historical facts,if you want to see history re-written with the benefit of hindsight watch Michael Moore. The soundtrack is entirely aposite and the movie contains the campest version of "A horse with no name" you could hope for. This is a very under -rated movie and one that future generations freed from tunnel vision will see and recognise accordingly.