Catch-22

John "Yo-Yo" Yossarian (Christopher Abbott) joined bomber command to prolong his training and hoping to avoid a short war. He has to survive training under Scheisskopf (George Clooney) and later flying under the command of Colonel Cathcart (Kyle Chandler) who continuously raises the mission count needed to be sent home. He's a great bombardier but he can't deal with the illogical craziness of his own side. He is desperate to get out. Doc explains to him that if he asks to leave due to mental issues, he would show survival instincts and thereby proving that he's not crazy. That's the catch-22. Other characters include the wheeling and dealing Milo, the caring nurse Duckett, and Major Major who gets promoted to Major through incompetence like so many other characters.

Yo-Yo annoyed me at first. He whines so much although he's not without his points. It is very Fubar. It would be more appealing to have start him as an innocent and have the war turn him into a cynic. After awhile, I get the point of his character and the craziness does get to be fun. Milo is weirdly endearing and even Chandler is not an evil villain. The evil villain is the situation and the world. It's a screwed up world and everybody has a slice of it. Everybody deals with it in their own ways and Yo-Yo insists on fighting it. This Hulu miniseries is a good adaptation of the anti-war classic.

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.

This is my favorite book. I watched the movie ages ago and hated it. This miniseries makes up for it. The casting is amazing. I always envisioned Yossarian as young and attractive and this actor does him justice. The first few episodes had me rolling with laughter. Much like the book, as the story goes on, it gets darker. I didn't like how the ending is completely different than the book. I wish they could have added a little more of the zany humor and I wish it would have been a few episodes longer. Also if I had been writing, I would have added more foreshadowing of Orr and his flying crashes and how he was always trying to coerce Yossarian to fly with him. Yoyo's A-HA moment was very anticlimactic. Other than that. It was pretty good. I binged them all on one day. When I watched I was watching for similarities to the book. I will probably watch again with fresher eyes as a series instead of an adaptation.

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?

This is a lifeless technical exercise devoid of any passion, emotion or meaning. The direction is soulless, uninspired and humorless with no vision or imagination. Pod People going through the motions of acting and directing. Perfect Hollywood pablum for those who enjoy eating gruel.