The trailer for this film sets it up as an out-and-out comedy. However, it is really a slyly funny, satirical look at the war in Afghanistan, with plenty of dramatic moments. A previously desk bound TV journalist Kim Baker (Tina Fey) is given the opportunity to report from Afghanistan’s war zone because of a shortage of available other reporters, most of whom have been deployed to Iraq.
As Kim struggles to get her stories on the air, the film takes potshots at the attitude to women in an Islamic country, the ethics of reporters covering the stories and the TV executives more interested on ratings than what is really newsworthy.
Tina Fey is a performer I like, and this role stretches her much more than last year’s awful Sisters and she really impresses as a woman who is initially out of her depth but soon learns to adapt and thrive in her new environment. Her relationships with photographer Ian (Martin Freeman) and fixer Fahim (Christopher Abbott) are well drawn and convincing. Less successful is the too glamorous Margot Robbie as a fellow reporter and Alfred Molina’s caricatured portrayal of a government minister. Billy Bob Thornton, though, is a hoot as a General who has most of the funniest lines in the movie.
Kim’s three years in the country rattle along so fast, I couldn’t help thinking that as good as this film is, the subject might make a better HBO or Showtime TV series. That aside, the mostly good performances and a vibrant evocation of a war-torn country by directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa make this another recommendation.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10