Catch-22

First of all, the greatness of the book itself would almost be impossible to replicate on screen; that said, I thought it was well done. The characters, individually, were excellent. It was well worth the watch and felt it was no waste of my time at all.

The show is very unique in its portrayal of war. I have not read the book, but the absurdity and stupidity of war is highlighted time and again. The US military appear to be absolute buffoons with little regard for troops. Military figures are played brilliantly by Kyle Chandler as Cathcart and George Clooney as Scheisskopf.

The stupidity of Cathcart and harshness of Scheisskopf directly affect the protagonist that comes in the form of John Yossarian. Cathcart does not know how to order his men without the repeated assistance of Colonel Korn played by Kevin J. O'Connor. By way of highlighting Scheisskopf's brutality and anger towards him, Yossarian sleeps with his wife. Both are instrumental to the plot of the show in powerful roles.

John Yossarian is played by Christopher Abbott very well. He is able to demonstrate Yossarian's desire to leave the war and go home. His performance is amazing especially as the series continues because he starts to lose a grip on his mental state. War leads Yossarian to lose his grip on reality due to his loss of friends.

War is not painted as evil or bad throughout the show however. War is also shown to be the very definition of capitalism in the character of Milo Minderbinder played by Daniel David Stewart. He uses the war to fly to European countries to expand his business relationships using American planes. Minderbinder considers Yossarian his best friend and that dynamic is one of the more interesting plot-lines.

Yossarian's dynamics with his friends, Dr. Daneeka, and Nurse Duckett are very interesting too. The show is full of nuance and is far better than marketing has shown. I definitely suggest this show. Not only is it entertaining, but it is full of deeper meaning. Please watch the show!!!

Making a direct adaptation of any novel is next to impossible, and even more so with Catch-22. That being said, as someone who loves the book and has read it multiple times, I'm incredibly pleased with this series. George Clooneys direction has a very coen brothers feel, and I think goes well with the overall tone of the book, and makes for a great show.

One of the greatest books ever written, certainly as an anti-war film. I had never heard of the guy who played Yossarian, but he was amazing. His face is so emotive and he captured the complexity of his character. Yossarian is not a hero; some call him a bit of a coward, but he represents something in all of us. He doesn't want to die because some bullying general who never flies a mission. He has done his duty but they keep adding more missions every time he approaches his discharge limit. For those of you who totally missed the point and were expecting a regular war movie, did you get what the title means?

If you were apprehensive about how well this was going to turn out, you were justified.

The good: As an adaptation, it's not too bad. Scenery and props look authentic. A couple of the scenes (particularly combat in the bombers) are well realised and tense. It's MUCH better than Mike Nichols' abortive film attempt of 1970.

The less-good: This is definitely NOT Catch-22. This is 'Catch-22 Lite' - a much simpler version in easy-to-understand and easy-to-digest morsels. Nothing too bitter, sharp, complicated or controversial here. Key satirical targets of the book (incompetence - of government administration, security forces, army commanders - the blindness of capitalism, gung-ho patriotism, systemic racism, etc.) are either watered down or omitted. Several key characters are conflated, so they lose their individual characteristics and become bland stereotypes. Other important characters are simply missing. So many story strands are left out that if this was a sock someone would be constantly darning it. The key storyline of Yossarian's significant journey is weakened in places by the lack of those supporting strands.

The book is a blazing and merciless satire filled with devices to make the reader empathise with the emotional and psychological trauma Yossarian is going through (temporal displacement; juxtaposed but dissimilar scenes linked by common dialogue; frighteningly indifferent rules, regulations, administrators; people in positions of corrupting power whose main concern is their own welfare; Kafka-esque terror at the surrender of personal control to unseen powers). This series jettisons most of that and replaces it with a simple chronological story using some of Heller's material where it suits and making up new things where it doesn't (witness the weak but perhaps more socially acceptable revised ending. Ouch!)

Casting, directing and screenplay opt for some poor choices here which don't help. Clooney is too old to play Scheisskopf. Laurie could never be the intimidating Major __ de Coverley. Cathcart, Korn, Aarfy, Major Major, McWatt, Nately, Orr and several others neither look nor act like their literary counterparts, weakening the story still further and making them into filler parts.

Summary: Catch-22 will always be a major challenge to film, its scope making it all but impossible to realise in a 90-minute movie. However, this is nearly 4.5 hours of TV which dragged in places because the pace was too slow and the story too tightly focused and limiting. In serial form like this it should be much easier to realise something similar in scope, message and power to Heller's extraordinary book. As such, it's rather a wasted opportunity.