One of the reasons that I write reviews of movies is that I hope to turn people on to good movies that might otherwise fly under their radar.
Such is my hope with Tina Fey's latest film WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT - a satirical view of the conflict in Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of a novice International reporter (Fey). What starts out as a funny and corny "fish out of water" movie, slowly morphs into a more serious film about the addictive nature of constantly being in a warzone situation.
Fey is perfectly cast as the central character - war correspondent Kim Baker - who heads to an overseas assignment in Afghanistan to escape a rather humdrum life. I was a little nervous, at first, as all the funny parts that were in the trailer were in the first 1/2 hour of this film - and Fey handles those with aplomb. She is a gifted comedienne, so these scenes looked effortless for her. It is her transition to a more serious reporter, addicted to the adrenaline of her job that Fey really shines. I was impressed with her serious work in THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU and was anxious when it looked like her career regressed with last December's SISTERS, but I'm happy to say she continues to grow as an actress and she is strong in this part.
But, this movie is more than just Fey. She has a very strong supporting cast around her - Martin Freeman as an Irish photographer, Margot Robbie (who continues to grow as an actress) as a friend/journalist competitor to Fey, Alfred Molina as an Afghanistan politician and newcomer (at least to me) Christoper Abbott as Fey's interpreter - they all bring something interesting to the table that helps this movie along.
Special mention should be made of Billy Bob Thornton's General Hollander - the US Commander in the region. While he does not have many scenes in the movie, he brings a presence that is heads and shoulders above everyone else when he is on screen. This fits well in this movie, for the Commanding General in that region should be heads and shoulders above the rest. He also gave me the best laugh in this movie (a joke I will not spoil here).
This movie is much, much more than a simple rom-com or military comedy, it is a Comedy/Drama that brings quite a bit of heart to it. I would strongly encourage you to seek this one out, you'll be glad you did.
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to Bank (of Marquis)
