As Kim Baker (Tina Fey, Sisters) recounts her love, life and career troubles to her Lebanese colleague Shakira (Sheila Vand, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) over drinks during their jaunt as war correspondents in Afghanistan, they coin a term for her saga: it’s an American white lady story. The phrase looms over Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, a fictionalised account of journalist Kim Barker’s memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan; however as accurate as the description remains, it doesn’t undermine the surrounding film. As an unhappy woman heads to an exotic location to shake her middle-aged malaise, following a familiar formula may dictate much of the feature’s narrative, and yet so does also ample thoughtfulness.
Indeed, Baker’s woes are as relatable as they come, as is her trip to a combat zone to conquer them. At the beginning of the film’s timeline in 2002, the forty-something New Yorker finds her news copy-writing job unfulfilling, has become tired of her boyfriend’s frequent absence, and dreads the prospect of an unchanged future. When she’s identified as unmarried and childless by her television network employer, and asked to consider a role overseas, she’s initially reluctant but eventually enticed by the potential excitement and danger. And that’s exactly what awaits upon her arrival, as Baker is thrown into the bullet-riddled world of on-the-ground broadcasting, warms to the partying Kabul lifestyle, and bonds with fellow reporter Tanya (Margot Robbie, Z for Zachariah) and photographer Iain (Martin Freeman, Captain America: Civil War).
Challenging her sense of identity, and discovering who she truly is and what she really wants, are all part of Baker’s experience, though as much as directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Focus) and writer Robert Carlock (TV’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) stress that narrative arc, it’s not Whiskey Tango Foxtrot‘s strongest aspect. In contrast to the message that the film makes plain, insight and humour emanate from the discrete instances along the way rather than the overall journey. Individual moments call out everything from the addictive nature of risky work to waning public interest in long-term battles to the expected cultural and political clashes — and the well-worn tropes in play, as well — while cultivating an apt blend of political commentary and black comedy in the process. When placed together and layered with life lessons and romance the end product has an all-too-familiar air; separately, they’re much more potent.
Of course, much of the marriage of both amusement and astuteness seen at the micro level springs from the feature’s guiding force — and while she mightn’t have written the script, there’s no doubting that Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a showcase for its talented leading lady. When The Taliban Shuffle was first published, literary reviewers called attention to Barker’s Fey-like status on the page; in the film, the actress not only validates such a comparison, but wears it like a badge of honour. In her hands, Baker proves a complex collection of emotions, reactions and difficulties, both positive and negative, that always feels realistic. The character’s path may have been trodden many times before, but the recognisable beats ring true thanks to Fey’s convincing lead performance.
Perhaps that’s why, even as it tries to conform to an easily digestible template, and works better scene by scene than as a whole, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot hits the mark more often than not. Just as Carlock fills the film with perceptive and witty dialogue, Ficarra and Requa also demonstrate a deftness of touch that helps balance the more subversive and standard elements of the story, as well as an energetic style that suits contemplative moments as much as hectic combat sequences. That mightn’t stop the feature’s pacing from struggling with its 112-minute running time, nor a number of questionable casting decisions — namely Alfred Molina (Secret in Their Eyes) and Christopher Abbott (James White) as Afghan locals, though the latter proves an considered fit for his role — from leaving an imprint. It does, however, ensure that the film’s abbreviated title won’t be exclaimed in pain; Whiskey Tango Foxtrot‘s shrewd, satirical and substantial WTF moments are actually among its clear highlights.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Director: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
USA, 2016, 112 mins
Release date: May 12
Distributor: Paramount
Rated: MA
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