Review of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) by Thequietgamer — 19 Jul 2016

It was kind of a hard movie for me to get into at first, but as it progressed I found that it really grew on me. It tries too hard with it's humor early on. It starter gags are just too immature. The strength of the movie doesn't come in until it tones down the humor and begins to focus on the relationships and growth of Tina Fey's character.

It's your standard tale about a person who finally does something new and crazy in their life and ends up finding out who they are along the way. As a result it is predictable. However the movie has a fantastic cast lead by Tina Fey, who gives an excellent performance. Of course it also helps that the setting allows for interesting and dangerous situations to arise.

It's true that Afghanistan ends up being one of the movie's greatest strengths. I was surprised to find that for a comedy it isn't afraid to get gritty. There are violent and gory depictions of warfare I wasn't expecting. It really helps to add a tone of realism to the film. It's also allows them to touch on other compelling themes about the political climate and culture of the area.

Before I go any further I have to criticize the movie's soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, these are good songs. The problem is they are used completely in the wrong areas and often clash gaudily with the tone of the movie as well as the events they are being played over.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot goes to loud with it's humor in the beginning. It's not until it starts to get more subtle with it's jokes that the laughs start coming. Despite the familiarity of it's plot setup, the drama is still compelling thanks to a strong cast and a wonderful performance from Tina Fey. Of course it's setting is also a pretty strong point. It adds an extra serious edge with it's war angle.

For all of it's political hot topics on display, it's real themes and messages are centered around feminism. It's a nice display of the strength women possess. It might not be the funniest or most original movies out there, but it manages to add a few nice spins to the standard story setup it uses. All in all it's far fro perfect, but still offers quite a few reasons to give it a shot. It's opening stretch left me thinking I wasn't going to like it, but once it got going and found it's focus it pulled me into a surprisingly likable film. One carried by the talent of Tina Fey.