After establishing herself as 30 Rock‘s resident nerd Liz Lemon, Tina Fey is testing the waters elsewhere. There’ll be no night cheese in Sisters, a Fey-Poehler romp hitting theaters this week in which she co-stars as the wacky, out-of-control sibling. And so to piggyback on the film’s imminent release, Paramount has dropped the first trailer for Fey’s next, somewhat different project, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
The war comedy is based on the real-life experiences of former Chicago Tribune journalist Kim Barker. Her time in Afghanistan covering the conflict forms the basis of her memoir The Taliban Shuffle, which is incidentally the working title for the movie. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Focus, Crazy, Stupid, Love) eschewed that in favor of the military acronym title, which is far better suited to this style of dramedy.
From what’s on offer in this first trailer, Fey steps into the role of Barker with relish. Glee, in fact. No doubt a breath of fresh air from her typical roles – watching her manhandle a machine gun is quite the sight – Barker’s travails are a million miles from the usual schtick Liz Lemon deals with. Except for the romance. There’s a hint of love in the air thanks to a fellow photojournalist also flung into the conflict, with whom she strikes up a friendship.
While there’s bound to be another trailer due before the movie arrives, this is nevertheless an apt tease for what could be the second Fey hit of the winter season.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opens in theaters March 4th. Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Christopher Abbott and Billy Bob Thornton co-star.