Our hearts did not collectively shatter when Tina Fey turned down the opportunity for a sequel, because let’s be honest, has there ever been a sequel to a fantastic movie that wasn’t a total letdown?
Advertisement
She did that as the creator and star of the critically acclaimed sitcom 30 Rock and continues the trend with her latest film Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
The screenplay has been written by Robert Carlock, and is therefore predictably profane.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, which stars Fey as Chicago Tribune South Asia bureau chief Kim Barker during her time in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will debut on Friday, Mar. 4. The rest of the cast, in addition to the aforementioned Fey and company, includes Nicholas Braun, Martin Freeman, Cherry Jones, Alfred Molina, Billy Bob Thornton, and many more. “Kim’s real stories were so insane and amusing, but shocking and compelling”. The relationship between Kim and Tanya, when considered alongside their reporting in Kabul and the much more restrictive Kandahar, reveals a broad spectrum of women trying leverage power in male-dominated worlds.
Tina Fey hit the red carpet on Monday in NY for the premiere of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, a wartime comedy that follows Fey as she portrays a journalist assigned to report from Afghanistan. Fey also said that she made it clear to the casting directors that she would ultimately be the one to take the heat for the decision – which has, of course, turned out to be true. I thought, yes, I buy this.
“So, I got a hold of the book”.
At its best, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot turns Kabul into a purgatorial no man’s land for American reporters and troops, who are stranded in a war zone without a mission or an exit strategy. “I’ve always loved that”.
“She concluded: “… and we were like, ‘No, it’s a bad time'”.
Fey plays the similarly named Kim Baker, a cable-news producer who spends time writing bland copy for bland on-air personalities and wondering if there’s anything more to life.
Advertisement
She also fights to define her own identity, and the movie smartly balances its wider concerns with Kim’s personal journey, which never comes across as phony or self-important. “People at an office work 40 hours a week and we’d rather work 70, literally in mud”, Fey adds with a smile. Partying at brothels and karaoke bars when she’s not dodging bullets and interviewing Afghan warlords, Kim overcomes culture shock and finds comfort in the chaos – making it hard to eventually leave her adrenaline-fueled lifestyle behind.
