Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, starring Tina Fey hits theaters today! Our Street Team attended an advanced screening of the film, which we’re giving a solid five-star rating.
The film is based on the book “The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days In Afghanistan And Pakistan” written by Kim Barker, portrayed in the movie by Tina Fey. WTF also stars Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina and Billy Bob Thornton.
Here’s why we think this film hits a home run:
The unexpected…
From first glance at the official trailer, you may think you’re in for a straight comedy. This is not the case, but in a GOOD way. The film encompasses everything you want out of a movie. It certainly delivers on comedy, with no shortness of hysterical one-liners, especially from Fey and Robbie. At the same time, there’s action. How could there not be when it’s based on the real-life story of a TV Reporter with no previous on-air experience, first finding her rhythm during wartime in the Middle East? Fey’s character literally puts herself in the line of fire to get stories on tape. On top of that, it’s emotional. Again, in a good way. We’re reminded of the realities of this war, we flashback to its history and the sacrifices American soldiers and their families made and still make.
Funny Fey…
What’s not to love about her, right? The movie pokes a lot of fun at Fey’s character’s appearance and she has fun with it, especially during scenes where she’s rated on a scale from 1-10. Not only that, but her reaction when asked to pick up and move to Afghanistan during a war, with no reporting experience and little to no war training, is so casual and go-with-the-flow that it’s pretty funny. She literally casually picks up the phone and calls her long-term boyfriend the night before she leaves to ask him to watch her plants. How unprepared she is is funny, too. And there are several scenes where Fahim, an Afghanistan native assigned to help her crew, translates things that are said to her completely wrong, leaving her out of the jokes. But we see her character morph into this bada$$ reporter, which we can really appreciate.
It’s about finding yourself…
We won’t spoil too much but one major reason this film ROCKS is that Fey’s character really comes full circle. The whole reason she moves to Afghanistan to start this new journey is because she feels like her life is going nowhere. She decides to stay after realizing there’s nothing left for her in New York and she gets good at her job. But a little over halfway through, she sees that even this may not be the best thing for her and again shows growth. At the end, she really comes full circle and it reminds us all of the importance of taking journeys, finding ourselves and evolving.
*Want more WTF? Tonight at 10pm during “Flix Fix” on NewsFix, we’re hitting the streets and giving South Floridians a chance to test their chops at television reporting! Tune in tonight at 10 to see the segment!
Check out the official trailer:
