An underseen buddy action comedy movie with two huge stars is on TV tonight

Stephen Porzio

It features two Oscar-winners in the lead roles.

Our TV movie pick for tonight (Tuesday, 9 April) is Air America, a 1990 buddy action comedy starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr.

“Despite having just had his Los Angeles pilot’s license revoked, Billy Covington (Robert Downey Jr.) is hired by Air America, a clandestine airline operating out of Laos run by the CIA,” the plot synopsis reads.

“He soon discovers that his mission is to covertly transport illicit goods in and out of Southeast Asia and that his copilot will be the wild-flying Gene Ryack (Mel Gibson).

“But when Covington begins expressing doubt about the dubious morality of their operation, the two hotheaded pilots become at odds.”

While a box office and critical disappointment upon release – many took issue with the movie trying to build a comedy around a dark subject matter – Robert Downey Jr’s recent success with Marvel and Oppenheimer has led to a bit of a reappraisal of Air America in the past few years.

The film is also noteworthy for being where Downey Jr. and Gibson met, with the two maintaining a close friendship that has lasted to this day – with Downey Jr. even thanking Gibson in his recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) win speech for Oppenheimer.

Air America is airing on TV tonight on the channel Legend at 9 pm. It is also available to rent on Apple TV+.

You can watch a trailer for the movie right here:

Here are the other movies on TV tonight:

Alita: Battle Angel – Film4 – 9pm

This very good sci-fi blockbuster is set on Earth far in the future and focuses on a cyborg (Rosa Salazar) who awakens in a new body with no memory of her past and sets out to rediscover her destiny.

The Krays – ITV4 – 9pm

This well-reviewed ’90s crime-drama sees real-life brothers and Spandau Ballet band members Gary and Martin Kemp play British gangster twins Ronald and Reginald Kray.

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol – Comedy Central – 9pm

The fourth in the cop comedy franchise.

Molly’s Game – BBC Two – 11.15pm

Oscar-winning writer Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) makes his directorial debut with this biographical crime thriller about a woman (Jessica Chastain) who gets in over her head after her underground poker empire gets exposed.

Desperado – Film4 – 11.25pm

Antonio Banderas plays an enigmatic man in Mexico seeking revenge on the drug lord who killed his lover in this incredible neo-Western.

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