Air America

AIR AMERICA comes on like a noisy, overproduced sitcom pilot as it details the zany exploits of kooky flyboys ferrying contraband in Laos during the Vietnam War, circa 1969. Though attempting to mimic the dark, satirical tone of Robert Altman's M*A*S*H, director Roger Spottiswoode's most recent effort remains on an inoffensive cartoon level, building to a mock socially conscious telemovie windup.

Under the opening credits, a CIA plane is brought down by a single bullet fired by a Laotian peasant. We then glimpse veteran pilot Gene Ryack (Mel Gibson), photogenically knitting his brow over the carnage, and his Air America boss, Rob Diehl (David Marshall Grant), wh...