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 | war on terrorism | kabul afghanistan | frenchman | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edited entirely with Final Cut Pro X.

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Goofs

When Kim arrives in Afghanistan in 2002, two V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft are on the airfield's flight line. The Osprey was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007.

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Quotes

Fahim Ahmadzai: [Quoting Rumi] I ride after a deer and find myself chased by a hog. I plot to get what I want and end up in prison. I dig pits to trap others and fall in. I should be suspicious of what I want.

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Connections

References Love and Death (1975)

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Soundtracks

Smoking In Bed
Written by Marty Stuart & Billy Bob Thornton
Performed by Billy Bob Thornton
Courtesy of Lost Highway Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Underrated

Tina Fey is Tina Fey in this movie. I loved the fact that she didn't pretend to be anything else. Westerners behaved like westerners in this movie.

Many war films try to sell you the emotional experience of a war. This is an American woman's story in Afganistan. Her world is other people like her and one slim contact with the world that she was in. Yes the movie is self-centered. Let's not bullshit ourselves into thinking we can be a whole lot more than that.

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:

$7,450,275, 6 March 2016

Gross USA:

$23,083,334

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,972,139

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