In my top ten in the last ten years. Not to be missed.

I thought Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was an okay movie. Not great, but okay. It did not have enough action or suspense to be held up by those pillars. It had some R-rated romance, but not so steamy that the movie could fly with just the romantic involvement of the two leads. It had some elements concerning the philosophy of life, but that was not what the movie was about. I've got it... the film was a little bit like being in a boat that wasn't big enough to have a party or even make love, moving too fast to fish out of, and not sea-worthy enough for a long trip. How's that for an analogy?But the biggest problem I had with it was Tina Fey as the female war correspondent. Give me some time and I could come up with 50 actresses that would have been better cast. I noticed that Tiny Fey was of the film's producers. I wonder if that helps explain things to me.

This movie is another one from the lazy mind chain that we simply have started to refer to as 'Hollywood' nowadays. I could digest some of the American jingoism paraded recently in all their sci-fi movies, but when you are delivering something about a region torn by American hegemonic war of 16 years (and counting), the jokes about Afghan men humping donkeys as a joke just brings bad taste in the mouth.The movie is based on the memoirs of a news journalist (real life Kim Baker book ' The Taliban shuffle') who is reluctantly pushed in the war torn Afghanistan to cover the media news coverage. Tina fey stars as the main character. I'm not particularly fan of Tina fey and her pretending to put a girlish vibe in her 40's just doesn't cut it. The western women are presented as some sex deprived nymphs with lines of "when your p** starts eating your leg after 2 months then tell me". Really are women in west so thirsty after 2 months?. Almost half the movie is filled with partying of women, drinking, trying to be adventurous or just delivering nasty one liners to men about urinating in the open or becoming bold every time with false bravado. (seriously?)Characters don't really seem to give any heed to the country they are trying to cover OR the poor people they are supposed to be looking out as foreign 'saviours'. Afghans are portrayed as someone belonging to neolithic period and so is the country. As a consultant who has visited Afghanistan around the same period, I can safely say that all the caricatures developed here are utter nonsense and denigrating to the country's state as many of the amenities available in a developed society are available in Afghanistan's bigger cities. Same is the depiction of Chinese brothels in Afghanistan and lines uttered about 'Taliban punishing men whose under hair used to curl on their sticks(!)' (spoken by some high profile Afghan senator) which is another unverified account.In reality what the movie overlooks completely how American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are living in one of the highly sophisticated luxury affairs that any soldier can dream nowadays. Hollywood depictions of how American system is better than others by taking puns on other cultures are coming off as fake and repetitively boring.

2003. Kim Baker is a writer at a TV news network in New York. The network needs a reporter in Afghanistan and, as her career has stalled and her life is in a rut, she (apprehensively) takes the job. Nothing could have prepared her for life in Kabul and what she'll see and experience - she is truly a duck out of water. Over time, however, she adapts and even thrives. More than thrives, she seems to live for the danger and excitement, a fact that not only endangers her own life but that of her colleagues too.I didn't have great expectations before watching this. While Tina Fey's TV work is superb (30 Rock, SNL) her movies often miss the mark, ending up lightly entertaining, at best. So, was expecting a light comedy and nothing much in the way of drama.Turns out the movie is very funny, and, even better, often darkly so. The humour is often presented in dramatic or very plausible situations, so doesn't feel forced, feeling more like a candid view of people in a war zone. That's the beauty of the movie - it's as much a drama as a comedy, and the comedy stems from the drama, rather than existing in a vacuum.On the drama side, the situation in Afghanistan is very realistically portrayed, without shirking from the events and issues involved. While the press attempt to make the most of their situation and live it up, attempting to shut themselves off from their surrounds, the threat of violence and death is never far away. There is a fatalism hanging over the movie which makes it even the more engaging and compelling.Not perfect though. I felt that, while a good and often funny story, it didn't really make a profound point in the end. The conclusion seemed quite flat, especially after what came before.Overall: a great blend of comedy and drama.