Catch-22

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!!!

This series captures the essence of Joseph Heller's anti-war novel which I've read many times. Mike Nichol's tried to do so in his 1970 film, but fell short because of, in this viewer's opinion, the limitation of two hours not being enough time to adapt the novel. I believe the novel is a brilliant commentary on the lunacy of war as Heller saw it, which was ahead of it's time. This dark dramedy does an exceptional job displaying the satire and insanity that is expressed in the novel. This series has excellent direction, settings, soundtrack, costume and acting. However the cinematography is outstanding as well as the writing of Michod and Davies. All of the actors deliver superlative performances. In particular Abbott, Laurie, Stewart and Pullman stand out. Clooney's limited time in the series as Lieutenant Scheisskopf is worth it. His dialogue delivery, facial expressions and gesticulations are absolutely priceless. The same goes for Chandler as Colonel Cathcart throughout the series. The plot is set during WWII in Italy and revolves around a squadron of bombardier pilots with the central character being Yossarian A.K.A. Yo-Yo. He is the one man that seems to understand how egregious his situation is and the war is in general, pun intended. With the Germans retreating, Yo-Yo figures out that by convalescence he can get out of completing his required flight missions which starts out at 19. This is where Catch-22, which was coined by Heller, comes into play. Catch-22 is a diabolical military rule which states that if a man declares he is insane to get out of duty, well then he must be a sane man because you'd have to be crazy to fly bombardier missions to begin with therefore you are sane and you can't be discharged from duty. Essentially for all you readers that are unfamiliar with the phrase, it is a situation that is impossible to get out of. To top this off the maniacal Cathcart keeps upping the number of missions needed to complete one's duty and it always happens when a man is just a few missions from completing his duty. The series has all of the main characters from the novel; Yo-Yo, Cathcart, de Coverley, Scheisskopf, Milo, Aardvark, Nurse Duckett, Major Major Major ( that's not a typo) and more. The series does a marvelous job examining certain characters such as de Coverley as he navigates the war in the background as sort of a neutral character who hides in plain sight, Mess Officer Milo as he escapes flying missions by becoming a war profiteer, Major Major Major Major as he gets by solely because of having a name that was given to him as a practical joke by his father and Nurse Duckett who is on Yo-Yo's side but sees right through him.. As the missions grow from 19 to 25 to 30 to 55 the stakes get higher for Yo-Yo as he continues to try to find ways to beat the bureaucracy such as flying 11 missions quickly and handing in paperwork all at once before the missions can be raised again. We see the men during down time tying to enjoy a normal life during the most sinister of times. The series scrutinizes what lengths men are pushed to during the stress of war time and what lengths they'll go to in order to rid themselves of the madness. There are so many memorable quotes and scenes in the series. If I had to choose a quote it is when Scheisskopf asks a stenographer to read me back what I just said and the stenographer replies, "Read me back what I just said". The look on Scheisskopf's face is uproarious. My favorite scene would have to be when Cathcart is berating the squadron on how they missed this huge target in Rome only to have one of the men point out that it is Vatican City. The series is crisp, insightful, captivating, cathartic, duplicitous, gritty, daft, certifiable and blazing. In this viewer's opinion the series does a pronounced job in adapting the novel and respectfully conveys Heller's message. Catch-22 is beguiling and superior in the dark dramedy genre.

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.

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.

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?