It is very difficult for actors, even successful ones, to get out of their comfort zone and try something new and different. It is difficult because audiences seem to have a tough time accepting it. Bill Murray starred and bombed in "The Razor's Edge" by Somerset Maugham. He's very good in it but people couldn't accept it. Audiences also had a hard time with Meg Ryan playing a chopper pilot in Iraq in "Courage Under Fire." It's another good film. Tina Fey seems to be having a similar problem in "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot." Fey stars in this true story of reporter Kim Barker who with no experience as a foreign correspondent, jumps at the chance to go to and cover the Afghan war. This is not a comedy about the war in Afghanistan, but there are a lot of funny moments as Fey tries to adjust to life in a war zone. This is a perfect role for Fey, and this movie was a very pleasant surprise. Fey projects just the right "fish out of water" feeling as she arrives in Kabul woefully unprepared, starting with the fact that she brings an orange backpack into a war zone. But slowly with help of her Afghan assistant, and some fellow journalists (Margot Robbie and Martin Freeman), she becomes a combat happy Joe. She ends up staying three years trying to cover the Afghan war while the Iraq war is getting all the press coverage. The real Kim Barker is now a reporter for the New York Times. The supporting cast is great. Robbie plays the classic beautiful BBC reporter and Freeman is a Scottish photographer. Billy Bob Thornton is very entertaining as the American Army commander, as is Alfred Molina as the Afghan Attorney General who keeps trying to seduce Fey. This is a story of culture shock and the juxtaposition of a nasty war with the off-duty lives and nightlife of the Expat community. The script is a very nice balance between comedy and tragedy. This film deserves to be seen.
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