Review of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) by Matt C — 01 Aug 2016

Going into Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, I wasn't expecting much. I saw this movie because Tina Fey is so watchable that she could make an ISIS beheading charming, and Margot Robbie and Martin Freeman are also a plus.

In all honesty, I wanted to see Fey be witty and fun, and with 30 Rock/Saturday Night Live alum Lorne Michaels producing, I was hoping for some modest entertainment. I got what I wanted and expected for the first half of this movie; it's imperfect but thoroughly enjoyable, and all of the performers elevate what isn't necessarily that amazing of material.

The second half, though, takes a steep drop-off, the energy and entertainment value disappearing, making for an overall okay-at-best movie. I wasn't expecting a whole lot of politically commentary or anything really special from a movie where Tina Fey plays a journalist in 2003 Afghan, but what redeemed the film of its lack of sociopolitical commentary or strong satire was the sense of fun that it had.

Again, Fey elevates pretty much everything that she's in, and she does the same here. She's never less than engaging to watch, and she lends a lot of grounding to some pretty excessive situations.

Margot Robbie is good, but not as scene-stealing as she was in previous movies, and it's nice to see Martin Freeman play someone a little less type-A than usual. The actors really are the stars here, since the direction is pretty by-the-numbers, but again, it's solid fun.

However, then the second half starts, and the issues from its first 55 minutes or so become more and more evident. It's partially because the movie spans three years, and it's partially because the movie doesn't have enough material to warrant its almost-two-hour runtime, but really, this is a movie where, as the end nears, it realizes that it has to have more of a conflict, causing it to change in tone and pacing.

I wouldn't have expected to be disinterested and borderline bored by the time the third act began, but alas, it happened. Supporting characters are slightly sidelined in leu of other supporting characters, making the movie feel disjointed, and the war images that are shown in order to illustrate war's brutality feel pretty out of place if you're going by fast he movie that was set up in the first act.

So while I had a solid amount of fun with Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and the likability oozing from its performers, the second half feels like it's trying to course correct what was already a pretty good movie at first.

Its sloppiness becomes increasingly visible towards the end, which doesn't undo the fun had in the first half, but makes for a sloppy movie. I can't call it bad, but for what it could have been, it's kind of disappointing.

6/10, okay, one thumb down, average, etc.