Movie Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Saturday Night Live star Tina Fey is universally loved, despite having had few cinematic vehicles that really demonstrate her talents. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot seemed like the perfect antidote to that; a wry, intelligent film that combines a classic fish-out-of-water motif with the edgy and politically loaded backdrop of war-torn Afghanistan.
Based on journalist Kim Barker’s sharply observed memoir about her experiences covering the war against the Taliban, it puts a dark spin on the now ubiquitous woman-finds-herself-through-love-and-travel genre. Stuck in a deadbeat relationship and unsatisfying career, Kim’s personal crisis finds her taking a position as a foreign correspondent, completely unprepared for the terrifying reality that awaits her. Then there’s the raucous partying of the embedded Americans, who try to balance the weight and danger of their situation by escaping into sex and alcohol.
Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris, Crazy Stupid Love) manage the film’s shifting tones well, from the outrageously hyper party scenes to the genuinely thrilling action sequences, to the smaller character interactions that allow Fey’s wit and self-deprecating humour to shine. The awkward Kim contrasts nicely with Margot Robbie’s sexy and savvy reporter, while her barbed banter with Martin Freeman’s crude photographer is brimming with chemistry.  
The movie is self-aware enough to joke about Kim’s privilege and the luxury of her first world problems, compared to the plight of the people around her. However, certain gags simply don’t work, in a film where Alfred Molina and Christopher Abbott play Afghan officials, and where cultures and customs are viewed through an unabashedly white gaze.