Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

As we continue with new films for the new year, we also continue, as with past years, with films based on a true story. As I've mentioned in prior reviews, truth is and can be stranger than fiction. Coupled with that, we have yet another Middle East war based film thrown in the company of "Hurt Locker", "Thirty Dark Zero", "Stop Loss", even the recent "13 Hours". "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" being a combination comedy/drama makes this a bit different than the aforementioned films, but it is definitely another one of these films to encapsulate what has happened over there for generations later to learn from.

Eager for a new professional challenge, TV reporter/journalist Kim Barker (Tina Fey) decides to serve as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan, where she is embedded with a Marine unit. During her time abroad, she is forced to contend with a fiery U.S. general named Hollanek (Billy Bob Thornton), befriends an affable Marine, Specialist Coughlin (Evan Jonigkeit), a fellow reporter, Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie) and a British photographer Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman).
This true story of Kim Barker's years as a reporter in both Afghanistan and Pakistan  starts as a flashback in 2006 and takes us back to 2002 where she was pondering if she really wanted to do this. Her recounting the details of what occurred during this time was obviously therapeutic for her as was it a teaching aid for the audience watching this.

Others to round out the cast are Alfred Molina as Ali Massoud Sadiq, Christopher Abbott as Fahim Ahmadzai, Kim's driver and confidante, Nicholas Braun as Tall Brian, Kim's cameraman, Stephen Peacocke as Nic, Kim's security guard while there, Sheila Vand as Shakira Khar, Fahim Anwar as Jaweed and Josh Charles as Kim's boyfriend.

This was effectively directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("I Love You Phillip Morris" '09, "Crazy, Stupid, Love. '11, "Focus" '15) plus TV. These filmmakers work as a team and it shows in that could they survive individually instead of collectively? This can be a great way in which to work, because what one guy can't come up with, the other will see something else from a different perspective to give the particular scene that element it really needed. We've seen this with the Coen Brothers, the Wachowski Brothers and others, and it actually pays off well when it comes to more effective filmmaking. It was written by Robert Carlock (TV experience since 1996). Considering this was this writer's first feature film script it wasn't bad and his plethora of TV writing has to be credited of why. When one sinks their teeth as much has this guy has done in TV scripts and stories, this simply hones the talent they have. There were places of inconsistencies, and some jumping around, but all in all, once this story got going, it was the interesting story this guy was obviously attempting to convey. I'm definitely curious to see what this guy is going to do next, and there will be a next time. This being a comedy/drama is interesting especially with Fey performing drama instead of her straight comedy which allows her to go out on a limb a bit more. 

As war films go, this is certainly as effective as most, but with a screenplay that definitely needed some extra polish, one might be more interested in focusing on the characters than that of the actual story structure. Kudos to Kim Barker who wrote about her experiences in such a war torn, desolate area.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                 Rated: R                               112mins.