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(TV reporter in Afghanistan)

Tina Fey stars as Kim Baker, an unmarried TV news copywriter who is available to pick up and travel to Kabul, Afghanistan, even though she has no experience in front of the camera. What follows is pure culture shock, as the neophyte adjusts to the male-dominated Arab world and the nighttime parties of the mostly male news crews.

Fey handles the black comedy pretty well, fending off a horny attorney general, who calls her his “special friend” and expects certain favors for interviews. Her best friend is the only other female reporter in the group, until she discovers she has been used by her.

The story unfolds in a series of vignettes, some funny, some serious and some seeming to be made up as they go along.

Billy Bob Thornton has a secondary role as Kim’s general, who learns to tolerate her as she tries to get her stories.

Folks back home at the TV station soon lose interest in what is happening in Afghanistan, shifting their interest to other hotter war zones – a strong indictment on news gatherers.

The problem with the movie is that it doesn’t know whether to be black comedy, romantic comedy or a serious look at how we cover our wars. Her visit to a wounded warrior at the end of the movie is a real poignant moment in a devil-may-care movie.

When Kim discovers that her boyfriend has been cheating on her, she begins a relationship with a free-spirited freelance reporter (Martin Freeman).

The movie is a very loose adaptation of a book by the real Kim Baker, a former Chicago Tribune reporter.

Rated R because of profanity, sex and violence.