Double Mini Reviews: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and The Other Side of the Door

Well, last weekend was a busy one in terms of movies.  I've already reviewed the first two that I watched, but haven't gotten around to two other films I saw over the weekend, due to the fact that I've been dealing with a lot of overtime at work lately.

And so, I am combining both reviews into one double mini review entry, so I can at least get my thoughts out on these two films that I saw last weekend.

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT

Based on Chicago Tribune journalist Kim Barker's 2011 memoir, The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot offers Tina Fey the best role she's probably ever had on the big screen, allowing her to show off not just her comedic skills, but some surprisingly strong dramatic ones as well. 

The film's ad campaign is basically making this out to be a fish-out-of-water comedy as Fey plays Kim who, back in 2003, is chosen by her newsroom to travel to Afghanistan and deliver some live reports.  The early moments are when the film is at its wobbliest, as Fey seems to switch back and forth between dry, sarcastic humor, and genuine emotion.  But soon, both her performance and the movie itself settles into a more comfortable tone, when Kim starts to become comfortable in her place and position, and begins to realize that her bosses back home view Afghanistan as a "second class" war, that is not worth covering as much.  There are a lot of nice moments throughout the film, such as the relationship she develops with a fellow journalist from Scotland (Martin Freeman), and with a fellow female journalist (Margot Robbie), who shows her the ropes of working in Afghanistan early on.

The only thing that took me out of the film is the filmmakers' decision to cast white actors in the roles of two leading Afghan characters.  It's not enough to drag the film down, but it does seem out of place. 

This is a movie that takes a little while to find its feet, but once it does, it is highly rewarding.  Fey is wonderful here, and the movie contains enough genuine laughs and successful drama to earn this a watch.  You just wish that the script maybe had a chance to have just one more rewrite before it went before the camera.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR

Here is a horror film that starts out with a lot of promise, but quickly degrades into all out silliness.  It's certainly nothing unwatchable, and it's not so bad that you wonder why the 20th Century Fox studio is basically burying it. (It was originally intended for a wide release, but got cut down to just over 500 screens at the last minute.) Still, given the set up and the potential, you can't help but feel let down.

Sarah Wayne Callies plays a grieving mother named Maria living in India with her husband (Jeremy Sisto) and adorable daughter (Sofia Rosinsky).  Despite their ideal lifestyle, their life is marked with tragedy, as a car accident with Maria at the wheel caused the death of their young son, Oliver (Logan Creran).  After a failed suicide attempt to end her grief, the family's local housekeeper informs Maria of an old abandoned temple that is said to exist as the doorway between the world of the dead and the living.  It is said that if you scatter the ashes of a dead loved one in the temple, and wait by the door within, you will be able to hear the voice of that loved one, and say your final goodbyes to them.  The only condition?  The door must not be opened.

Naturally, Maria goes through the the ritual inside the temple, and when she hears her son's voice on the other side of the door, she flings it open.  Now that she has opened the door, she has torn open the rift that separates the dead from the living.  Supernatural stuff starts happening around the family home that seems to suggest that Oliver has come back.  But, is he the same that he was when he was alive, and has Maria somehow doomed her family to a ghastly fate?

After a very effective opening half hour that creates a lot of sympathy for the main heroine, the movie quickly devolves into a lot of generic jump scares and cliches that we have seen in a dozen other movies just like it.  Even worse, a lot of the movie's scares have no explanation whatsoever.  At one point, Maria sees a dead person lying on the street after being hit by a car.  When she looks at the body, it suddenly turns its head and looks back at her.  There is no reason for this, nor no explanation as to what this has to do with anything.  The movie also keeps on coming up with convoluted reasons for the husband to be gone (he has to work late a lot), so that Maria and her daughter can be menaced by spirits.  Not that her husband ever comes across as the sharpest tool in the shed.  The return of Oliver from the dead causes all the plants and fish in the house to die or wither, yet he never seems to notice.

This is a movie that builds up some good will early on, making you think it will be the rare horror movie that makes you care about the main characters.  But then, it simply falls apart as it continues to go along.  I wouldn't call it a total lost cause, as there is some stuff to like here.  It just feels like a missed opportunity.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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