Whiskey Tango Foxtrot [MA]

A behind-the-scenes journalist suddenly finds herself in front of the camera, covering the war in Afghanistan. Between explosions, cultural conflicts, personal problems, and the odd drunken misdemeanour, she discovers a new outlook on life and her position in it. 

You see the name Tina Fey and then you see the trailers cramming in all the funny bits of the film and yes you think ‘hey this looks like a fun comedy’. 

In a pleasingly funny and refreshing kind of way, it’s not. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, or WTF, is a surprising little drama/comedy that, for the most part, is quite sincere in what it’s saying, which is something that we don’t really equate Tina Fey with as a comedienne and clever meta writer. 

The story that this movie chronicles is actually quite subtle, so subtle in fact that even at the end you’re left wondering what the film was actually about. There are tales of redemption, and salvation, and friendship, and transformation that all slide up against each other like eels listing lazing in a pond, and whilst it seems slow and at time quite pointless, there is something about it that dissuades you from looking away. 

The title itself is humorously quite indicative of the filmic experience of this movie, because by the end of it you do feel rather lost and confused as to the point of the story you just saw and it is quite WTF. It’s almost impossible to pinpoint exactly what it is about this film that makes it what it is and causes those feelings within its audience. 

We have a heroine that does not really drive the story; rather the story drives her. The ‘big decision’ or central turning point of the narrative: i.e. the move to cover the war in Afghanistan is just sort of glossed over and there is no real conflict or friction within it at all. ‘Hey guess what, you’re going to Afghanistan to be a war reporter’ ‘oh ok’. And then even after that, all the dramatic points of the story where there could have been narrative turmoil and conflict to establish intrigue were met instead with a nonchalance that was both weird and refreshing, like Aloe Vera drink. 

Tina Fey tackles each scene with nonchalance and neutrality that just allows the events and circumstances of the story to drive her rather than the character being the one in control and it’s really interesting to watch because it’s a step away from what we’re used to with her. It’s nice. It’s really nice. 

Her big achievements are met with a simple smile of modest pride with a dash of smugness, and it’s this level of neutrality that blinds you a little as to the transformation of character she’s actually going through. By the end of the movie she is a completely different person to when she started, confident and driven, but it’s still depicted as being really normal and nothing overly substantial. 

Indeed the entire film is done this way with characters changing and events happening that you don’t really notice until after the whole big deal. And I guess, at the end of the day, that’s the genius; that’s the mastery behind this movie. 

Starring Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Christopher Abbott, Billy Bo Thornton, Nicholas Braun, Stephen Peacocke, Sheila Vand, Fahim Anwar, Josh Charles, and Cherry Jones, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a fresh and surprising movie filled with war, action, drama, romance, and comedy. It’s one of those films where it’s hard to pinpoint why you like it you just know that you do.