Tired with a career as TV journalist and a relationship with her boyfriend Chris (Josh Charles) both of which seem to be stuck in a divot, Kim Barker (Tina Fey) is convinced to take a brief assignment as a war correspondent in Afghanistan to cover the ongoing US campaign. Arriving as a complete fish out of water much to the ire of her Afghan aid Fahim (Christopher Abbott), security guard Nic (Steve Peacocke) and particularly Marine General Hollanek (Billy Bob Thornton) who view her as a nuisance however, she is nothing if not tenacious and with some help from fellow reporter Tanya Vanderpoel (Margot Robbie) and freelance photographer (Martin Freeman) she begins to feel more at home and is soon making friends on both sides of the divide.

We all know Tina Fey does comedy well however I have yet to be convinced of her dramatic roles and this is where this movie hits problems. When the comedy is flowing it’s a good time look at the behind the scenes in a war zone however when things take a turn to the more serious aspects of the story it just feels like the movie is dragging. While Fey, Robbie and Freeman bring a good chemistry to screen her interactions with Afghan government head Ali Massoud Sadiq (Alfred Molina) who’s overtly sexual advances towards Fey were borderline offensive, was a real low point for me as it felt wholly unnecessary.

There are some good moments within the story such as Fey using her stance as a woman to her advantage despite being in a society which gives women very few rights and an all too brief look at the impact the situation may have emotionally on a person as they become war fatigued spending so long in a battle zone and maybe more of this plot line would have made for a better movie instead of constantly going back looking for comic value in most situations which left the film feeling like it wanted to be taken seriously despite not following suit itself. It’s not a bad movie by any means but there are too many flaws within to make it anything more than average.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10