“Sometimes you do have to laugh to keep from crying. And sometimes the world feels all right and good and kind of like it’s becoming nice again around you. And you realize it and realize how happy you are in it and you just gotta laugh.”

― Jacqueline Woodson, Peace, Locomotion

When discussing war, the world seems to focus its attention on the staunch reverence that goes into serving in a war, making the act of war a seemingly bleak, miserable experience for those involved, when in reality, normal life in wartime can have its lighter moments. This is evidently clear from the start of “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” as the film tries to make a lighter situation of a terrible war, all with the utmost respect. Things aren’t sunshine and unicorns in the world of “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” but life seems to pull through more than strife.

Kim Baker (Tina Fey) is a broadcast journalist working in New York who is given the opportunity to become a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan, despite no overseas training or experience. After landing in Kabul, she is met by the entire team of renegade, misfit journalists stationed there like Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie), Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman), Tall Brian (Nicholas Braun) and Afghan resident Fahim Ahmadzai (Christopher Abbott). After breaking up with her long time boyfriend, Kim begins to feel more at home in Kabul, despite knowing little of the culture and sticking out like a sore thumb in the city. Though tensions begin to flare with the war in Afghanistan, with Kim’s employer and among the journalists striving for the perfect story.

“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” (WTF for short) has a fascinating premise, at least in the setting. Many times, depictions of Afghanistan paint it as nothing but a war-torn hell of the worst proportions. While this film doesn’t show the film as a paradise, what it does show is that normal life does persist in the country, despite everything going on, the citizens power through the strife in a blazing strength.

Fey is great as Baker, if not only for her surprising dramatic heft that she brings to the film. There is comedy in “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” but unlike other Tina Fey vehicles like “Sisters,” the comedy comes across in a far more natural, subtle way than seen before by her. Her chemistry with that of both Robbie and Freeman are great in two completely different ways. Robbie is that type of “cool” friend who is always doing far more crazier things than you, but you love her anyway, while Freeman is that lovable douche that you hate that you’re magnetized to.

The direction by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“Focus”) is nothing to write home over, as the film has a pretty straightforward, unimpressive look to it. The cinematography and editing don’t really do anything new with the material given by the clever script, but it gets the job done. I think it’s because of this that I didn’t find much memorability in “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” even though I enjoyed the film, I don’t see myself remembering this film when I begin to assemble my “Best of 2016” list in December.

The world created in the film though is a fascinating one. I would have never guessed that the group of foreign correspondents in Kabul would resemble that of a freshman dorm of a university, with rampant drinking, drug use and random fornication throughout. This element gave the film a bit of unpredictability amongst some of the more predictable elements of the cast, I could always count on the antics of the journalists to be gratifying.

The film also doesn’t in any way disrespect that of the citizens of Afghanistan in any way, not even that of the Taliban really. With films like “London Has Fallen” leading us to believe that all Middle Eastern people are terrorists bent on destroying the Western world, the amount of cultural sensitivity seen in “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” for the most part is a breath of fresh air.

I don’t see myself rushing out to spend money on this film again, but for what it is, “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” is a fascinating piece about the lives of overseas journalists in a war zone. Fey is fantastic as Baker, taking the right steps in her career choice towards more dramatic pieces. And while this might be a bit of a throwaway role for that of Robbie, simply leading up more anticipation for her role as Harley Quinn in “Suicide Squad,” no harm is done here at all. There isn’t anything bad about “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” in fact, it’s an incredibly harmless film with a deep, penetrating message, it’s just not going to penetrate so deep that you remember it six months down the road.

3/5

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Starring: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Christopher Abbott, Nicholas Braun and Billy Bob Thronton.
Runtime: 112 minutes
Rating: R for pervasive language, some sexual content, drug use and violent war images.

Paramount Pictures presents, a Broadway Video/Little Stranger production, “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”