Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)

A journalist recounts her wartime coverage in Afghanistan.

Directors:

Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Writers:

Robert Carlock (screenplay by), Kim Barker (based on the book "The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan" by)

Stars:

Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tina Fey	...	Kim Baker
Margot Robbie	...	Tanya Vanderpoel
Martin Freeman	...	Iain MacKelpie
Alfred Molina	...	Ali Massoud Sadiq
Christopher Abbott	...	Fahim Ahmadzai
Billy Bob Thornton	...	General Hollanek
Nicholas Braun	...	Tall Brian
Stephen Peacocke	...	Nic
Sheila Vand	...	Shakira Khar
Evan Jonigkeit	...	Specialist Coughlin
Fahim Anwar	...	Jaweed
Josh Charles	...	Chris
Cherry Jones	...	Geri Taub
Scott Takeda	...	Ed Faber
Eli Goodman	...	Tucker Wang

Storyline

2003. After careful consideration, Kim Baker, a news copywriter, decides to leave the relative comfort of a New York desk job and serious boyfriend Chris to accept the assignment to work for three months as on-camera reporter in war torn Afghanistan, as her news agency is looking for anyone within their ranks to fill immediately the empty voids overseas. Her only experience of being in such an environment is going through hostile zone training a few years earlier. Immediately upon her arrival in Afghanistan, she realizes that she is ill-prepared emotionally for this assignment, not only enduring the dangers of the war itself, but also the conditions of everyday life, including largely been seen by men as only a "piece of ass" and a distraction despite her being considered average looking back home and not being overtly sexual, and being an individual with a small bladder who is nonetheless told to stay hydrated at all times. She is largely assisted in navigating this new life by Tanya...

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Plot Keywords:

afghanistan | journalist | drink in title | war on terrorism | kabul afghanistan | 

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Taglines:

From the headlines to the front lines

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content, drug use and violent war images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Pushto Dari French

Release Date:

4 March 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Taliban Shuffle

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,443,007, 6 March 2016, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$23,049,575, 24 April 2016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,939,010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The words "whiskey," "tango," and "foxtrot" stand for the letters W, T, and F in the international NATO Phonetic Alphabet, a military and law-enforcement system for clearly spelling out words and phrases during radio and other audio transmissions."WTF" is an early 21st Century abbreviation for "What the Fuck?" It has also become a popular title for network television shows that are otherwise prevented by their networks' standards and practices departments from the outright use of the word "fuck". TV shows including The Good Wife, NCIS, Jake 2.0, and Scandal have all titled episodes "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot".

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Goofs

Throughout the film, Tall Brian shoots with a Canon XL-1 (and later GL-1) camera. Shots of his viewfinder show a 30p HDV (HD video) text module in the upper corner. XL-1 and GL-1 cameras did not shoot in HDV; their highest resolution was 768 x 576.

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Quotes

Tanya Vanderpoel: In Afghanistan, you're a serious piece of ass.
Kim Baker: Thank you. Ohh, that's nice.
Tanya Vanderpoel: Because you're what, I mean, you're like, a seven, a six, seven in New York? Here, you're a nine. Borderline ten. It's called "Kabul Cute."
Kim Baker: What are you here, like a 15?
Tanya Vanderpoel: Yeah.

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Connections

References Casablanca (1942)

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Soundtracks

Afghanistan
Written by Jace Clayton & Sebastian Ruiz
Performed by DJ Rupture
Courtesy of Dutty Artz

User Reviews

Tina Fey shines and surpasses her "next-door girl" cliché

A real gem of a film that you shouldn't miss. I saw the trailer and immediately felt the need to see though I had my reservations about Tina Fey in a black comedy/drama film. Guess what! Tina surprised me with her performance (not acting-wise, but presence-wise). I know this doesn't make any sense, but picture an actress shining in a movie without an over the top performance, not an easy job to do. Whether Tina has grown to be great at many genres OR the movie was simply destined for her real life character.

The story-telling and events flow like nobody's business and the representation of Afghan People in the movie is beyond great. The movie balances between realistic approaches and the mainstream Hollywood agendas.

I really recommend this film to all kinds of viewers.