Whisky Tango Foxtrot

It took me a few moments to understand the title. I mean, I was frowning at it, and thinking “What The Fu- … Oh. I get it. Clever.” If you still need a clue, think of the military alphabetic code: Able, Baker, Charlie, Delta …”

This is a mostly amusing story, as you would expect from the wonderful Tina Fey, based (broadly, I assume) on the experiences of Kim Barker, a largely untested reporter arriving in Afghanistan after mostly writing from the comfort of a newsroom. This being a real war, with real blood being shed, there are naturally bad moments, but mostly it deals with her getting adjusted to the situation, with comic results. I’ve seen this story before, of a naïve individual dropped in to something way above his or her head, but this one is done exceptionally well. There is a great supporting cast including Martin Freeman, Margot Robbie, Alfred Molina, and Billy Bob Thornton, who seems to be in almost everything these days. He’s always good, but does the dude ever take a vacation? It was shot in New Mexico, and applause to the production designer, who sure as hell made the place look like somewhere in the Arab world.