Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)

I'm not sure I've seen a military comedy since Sgt. Bilko. Or maybe it was Operation Dumbo Drop. Nonetheless, this is a post-9/11 world. We just don't have the same levity with war like we used to. Especially when it comes to the war in Afghanistan. It's just something we don't do. But maybe it's time. Apparently it's time.

And who better for the role than Tina Fey? She plays Kim Baker, an American war correspondent who is sent to Afghanistan for a few months. A few months turn into a few years and she becomes an expert on everything Middle East. But as her life back in the states fades further into the past, she's realizing that Afghanistan is now her new home. We see her make this transition. It's one that's subtle, but felt by the end.

Fey is perfect for the lead. I honestly can't imagine anyone else who can just be as funny without being over-the-top and unrealistic. She gives us her same quirky and witty humor, but the film carries a much darker David Fincher-type of tone.

The jokes are never rapid fire, but always well-deserved. It makes the film more real. And that realistic tone places us in the mindset of the characters a bit easier.

Not too much about this film is cliché. Predictable, maybe, but not really cliché. Perhaps you can credit the source material which it's adapted from--an autobiographical novel entitled The Taliban Shuffle.

What I'm most impressed with is the balance of genre. Although it's a military comedy, it never feels like the film is pushing or pulling for one or the other. It's symbiotically both.

There's nothing obviously wrong with this film, in my opinion. I guess it may have failed to solve that "so what?" question for me, but it's still an entertaining watch. Maybe not one I would want to necessarily own on DVD. But that's not to say I wouldn't watch it again.

Twizard Rating: 84

Fmovies: A real gem of a film that you shouldn't miss. I saw the trailer and immediately felt the need to see though I had my reservations about Tina Fey in a black comedy/drama film. Guess what! Tina surprised me with her performance (not acting-wise, but presence-wise). I know this doesn't make any sense, but picture an actress shining in a movie without an over the top performance, not an easy job to do. Whether Tina has grown to be great at many genres OR the movie was simply destined for her real life character.

The story-telling and events flow like nobody's business and the representation of Afghan People in the movie is beyond great. The movie balances between realistic approaches and the mainstream Hollywood agendas.

I really recommend this film to all kinds of viewers.

I went to a screening of WTF, and really just went because it was a free night out away from stress. But I'd have happily paid for this movie. It was well written, the music was spot on (and, for me, music makes or breaks a movie). It's also not a chick flick as I thought. I hope that people will see this movie, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Frankly, I'm shocked at the low metascore. It deserved much better. Maybe it's one of those "sleeper" movies.

There were plenty of belly laughs, but also drama and action. This movie felt real, and not just because it was based on a true story, but because of the acting, dialog, writing, and heck probably all the aspects of movie making. This isn't a farce, or silly slapstick, I guess I'd call it a dramedy. Or even a drama with a lot of funny moments.

I don't think I've ever seen Tina Fey do such a great job in a dramatic role, and Martin Freeman was equally engaging. Even many of the smaller roles were done so well that you felt attached to the characters.

Again, I wasn't expecting to like the movie, I just wanted a worn-out-mom's-night-out. But what a nice surprise, I did enjoy it! And I think my husband would have also found it as good as I did.

This movie is good. Go see it.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot fmovies. This movie is another one from the lazy mind chain that we simply have started to refer to as 'Hollywood' nowadays. I could digest some of the American jingoism paraded recently in all their sci-fi movies, but when you are delivering something about a region torn by American hegemonic war of 16 years (and counting), the jokes about Afghan men humping donkeys as a joke just brings bad taste in the mouth.

The movie is based on the memoirs of a news journalist (real life Kim Baker book ' The Taliban shuffle') who is reluctantly pushed in the war torn Afghanistan to cover the media news coverage. Tina fey stars as the main character. I'm not particularly fan of Tina fey and her pretending to put a girlish vibe in her 40's just doesn't cut it. The western women are presented as some sex deprived nymphs with lines of "when your p** starts eating your leg after 2 months then tell me". Really are women in west so thirsty after 2 months?. Almost half the movie is filled with partying of women, drinking, trying to be adventurous or just delivering nasty one liners to men about urinating in the open or becoming bold every time with false bravado. (seriously?)

Characters don't really seem to give any heed to the country they are trying to cover OR the poor people they are supposed to be looking out as foreign 'saviours'. Afghans are portrayed as someone belonging to neolithic period and so is the country. As a consultant who has visited Afghanistan around the same period, I can safely say that all the caricatures developed here are utter nonsense and denigrating to the country's state as many of the amenities available in a developed society are available in Afghanistan's bigger cities. Same is the depiction of Chinese brothels in Afghanistan and lines uttered about 'Taliban punishing men whose under hair used to curl on their sticks(!)' (spoken by some high profile Afghan senator) which is another unverified account.

In reality what the movie overlooks completely how American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are living in one of the highly sophisticated luxury affairs that any soldier can dream nowadays. Hollywood depictions of how American system is better than others by taking puns on other cultures are coming off as fake and repetitively boring.

OK, so Tina Fey isn't actually a soldier, but she's not the horny bimbo who gets busy with George Clooney in Three Kings either. Its now clear that Tina Fey is one of the most multi-talented people in the entertainment world, and this movie will go far toward solidifying her reputation as a broad gauge polymath. Aside from everything else, its clear she's a wonderful actor, and interestingly enough all the really strong central characters in this movie are indeed women (as Tina ruefully laments that she should have googled one particular character.) Don't worry, there's plenty of blood and guts, bad language, and techno porn for the teen-aged boys (why on earth would anybody come to a R rated movie with WTF as the title and give it a bad review for being shocked by language, sex, and violence. Don't however, expect Margot Robbie or anyone else to replay Margot's Wolf of Wall Street shenanigans.) Even the Anglo actors playing indigini (as we called the locals in Viet nam) are wonderful. Well worth seeing, worth owning.

Wow. If I wasn't already a fan of Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey, I sure am now. The same barbed wit is evident throughout Whiskey, Tengo Foxtrot (military acronym for What the F***), but this isn't a skit. Tina Fey portrays a nuanced character, a low level employee of a network news department who makes an impulsive career move and ends up as a war correspondent in Afghanistan. Doesn't sound entertaining? It probably wouldn't be without the amazing touch Fey puts on her character. While it's not a war movie, it certainly captures the hopelessness of a culture doomed to perpetual war in the arm pit of the world. Afghanistan ultimately gets dismissed as a place undeserving of American military support, or even interest. The people shoot each other and blow each other up in conflict over interpretations of their medieval religion, and the movie correctly concludes "who cares"? But the Americans and individual Afghanis touch each others lives in ways that transcend cynicism. Fey and her Saturday Night Live co-producer Lorne Michaels find humor and humanity in ways that make you root for all the characters. The movie has no dull moments, and the pacing keeps you in your seat. Like Afghanistan itself, there were potential landmines of preachiness, boring politics and hopelessness...and WTF avoids them all. There are subtle, brilliant, and stereotype breaking supporting roles by Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina, (Spiderman 2), Margot Robbie (Wolf of Wall Street) and Martin Freeman (whose correspondent character is as far from Bilbo Baggins as Kabul is from New York.) Three cheers for Tina Fey, who manages to give us entertainment and a smile while showing us how lucky we are to be Americans. WTF could have been boring and preachy, and instead gives us a feel good movie from the most unlikely place on earth.