Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Tina Fey goes to war.

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s enjoyable but uneven film is based on Kim Barker’s autobiography The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It tells the story of Kim (Tina Fey) a successful cable news producer who, on the spur of the moment, leaves her job (and partner) for a supposedly brief assignment as a war reporter in Afghanistan. She is a fish out of water but soon develops a friendship with her sexually liberated colleague Tanya Vanderpoel (deliciously played by Margot Robbie).

Robert Carlock’s script is a mixed blessing – it deals with serious issues in a light-hearted way but never digs deeply into the heart of the matter. Fey is impressive as the naïve protagonist who learns how to cope in this alien environment and her initial three months’ engagement soon escalates into three years. She gets solid support from Alfred Molina as a corrupt warlord and Billy Bob Thornton as her commanding officer, even though their parts are underwritten. But her relationship with Martin Freeman as a miscast Scottish colleague fails to persuade.

GEORGE SAVVIDES

Cast: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Billy Bob Thornton, Christopher Abbott, Sheila Vand, Josh Charles, Cherry Jones.

Dir Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, Pro Ian Bryce, Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels, Screenplay Robert Carlock, Ph Xavier Grobet, Pro Des Beth Mickle, Ed Jan Kovac, Music Nick Urata, Costumes Lisa Lovaas.

Broadway Video/Little Stranger-Paramount Pictures
111 mins. USA. 2016. Rel: 13 May 2016. Cert. 15.