Plot: What’s it all about?
Tina Fey gets a chance to show a more dramatic side in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, where she stars as a journalist in Afghanistan. Kim Barker (Tina Fey) is unhappy with her career and where her life is headed. This leads her to take an assignment as a war correspondent. This will require her to travel a good bit, and leads to some tension in her relationship with her boyfriend. We follow her as she travels to a foreign country and is surprised by just how bad the living situation is. The film is based on fact, recalling Barker’s time as a reporter from the early 2000’s onward. She meets and befriends Australian Correspondent, Tanya Vanderpool (Margo Robbie). The two of them exchange a few funny tidbits as well. There’s also the freelance photographer that Barker becomes closer to, Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman). We then follow Barker as she interviews soldiers and gets their take about the war and other things. She seems some of the dangers of being there firsthand, but chooses to continue and not go back home. The time eventually flashes forward, and she grows closer to some of the people she met during her time there.
To say that Fey is the film’s biggest plus, would be an understatement. She does fine the role here, but the film quickly runs out of steam. What starts off as something rather fresh and breezy quickly gets bogged down in dull melodrama, among other things. It’s as if the filmmakers simply ran out of ideas. The story lags in more places than one. At least the film doesn’t get too heavy-handed or preachy, but that’s more faint praise than anything else. I admire Tina Fey for moving to more serious projects, and challenging herself, but she needs a story that utilizes her efforts a bit more. I can’t say I really cared about Barker’s journey in the film or the overall outcome. Some of the other performances are good, such as Billy Bob Thornton and Alfred Molina, but they’re not given much to work with either. The film just kind of sits there just barely making it past the finish mark.
Video: How’s it look?
We get a solid, 1.85:1 AVC encoded transfer that more than delivers the goods. There are many night scenes, but also many sun drenched scenes, but all are on point. Details are strong, softness is never an issue, and colors nice and smooth. The print showed no flaws either. All in all, fans will be pleased with these results.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Also fine is the film’s DTS HD track (down-converted from DTS-X). There are many combat sequences that elevate things, but the vocals were also crisp as well. There was strong range throughout the entire track. It really helps give a sense of the environment. I didn’t care for the film, but this track serves it well.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- All In: The Making of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – I swear, these “Making of…” featurettes are pretty much all the same. We get the cast and crew telling about when they read the script “…it was just amazing…” and we get some behind the scenes footage. I’ll differ my view on these when they start making them with a tad bit more diversity.
- War Reporter: The Real Kim – Admittedly, more interesting is a look at the person that Tina Fey plays. We learn about the “real” Kim and some interesting tidbits about her and her life.
- Embedded In Reality – We find out how the military played a pivotal role in bringing the movie to life.
- Wedding Party – Delve into the rich Afghan culture with a fun featurette on the joyous wedding celebration from the film.
- Laughing Matters –See how the characters relied on drinking, partying and other vices to cope with the constant threat of danger.
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
The Bottom Line
What started off fairly strong, quickly grew tiring and downright boring. It’s nice to see Tina Fey showcase a more dramatic side, but there’s little else here that’s worth mentioning. The film is long, but feels even longer since so little actually happens. There might be a story worth telling here, but this one is lackluster.
