Review of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) by Patrick L — 07 May 2016

"Tina Fey gives her best performance yet in this engaging war comedy".

Movie Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Date Viewed: March 5 2016.

Directed By Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love and Focus).

Screenplay By Robert Carlock, Based on the book "The Taliban Shuffle" by Kim Barker.

Starring: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina,.

Christopher Abbott, Nicholas Braun, Sheila Vand, Steve Peacocke, Evan Jonigkeit, Scott Takeda and Josh Charles.

Tina Fey gives her best performance yet in this engaging war comedy. Despite it's terrible title, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" finally has a role for Fey to fit in. This movie is also insightful on America's role in Afghanistan and on news reporters finding important assignments for their resume. Even though it is based on the true story of journalist Kim Barker and her experiences covering the war in Afghanistan, the script makes a few changes to the story including changing Kim's last name from Barker to Baker. With terrific performances and a ton of laughs, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" is more clever than you might think.

After being dissatisfied with her job as a news copy editor, TV journalist Kim Baker (Fey) thinks it's time for a change. She wants to be on the ground covering the war in Afghanistan. This means saying goodbye to her time-traveling boyfriend who is disappointed with her going to a war zone.

When she lands in Afghanistan, Baker begins to make friends. She befriends a sexy Australian correspondent, Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie), a moody Scottish photographer, Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman), a slimy Afghan government official, Massoud Sadiq (Alfred Molina) and an Afghan fixer-upper, Fahim Ahmadzai (Christopher Abbott).

At first, Baker thought it going to be short assignment but it will be much longer than she expected. After seeing her boyfriend with another woman on a video-call from her computer, Baker calls it quits with him and she develops a relationship with Iain. During her assignment, Baker will report on the front lines covering intense combat footage and interview American soldiers on camera questioning the value of this war and their well being here. Billy Bob Thornton also stars as a tough Marine commander who comes to respect Baker for her gusty reporting.

Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love and Focus) have made a signature outing for Tina Fey and she is fiercely funny as Kim Baker, a news journalist who has the grim task of reporting from a war-stricken country. Margot Robbie and Martin Freeman are also really good as Baker's fellow war correspondents and the writing is sharp thanks to Robert Carlock who worked with Fey on "30 Rock".

My biggest compliant about "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" is that the film's title should've been changed to "The Taliban Shuffle" which is the original title of Kim Barker's book. Nevertheless, I still really enjoyed this movie because of Tina Fey's superb work.