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.

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?

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.

The Mike Nichols 1970 adaptation is a masterpiece in virtually every way. Amazing cinematography, innovative de-constructed screenplay, absolutely perfect casting, and most importantly genuinely conveys the dark insanity of the war as Heller's novel portrays, the absurdity of the military, and the banality of evil. Spectacular in every respect.

Despite being 6 hours rather than 2, this really adds nothing, while falling short of the original film's concise storytelling. It's very pedestrian and TV movie in its approach looks more like an Abercrombie & Fitch commercial than a serious film. Interchangeable pretty boys that fail to differentiate themselves as characters.

It's competent and very watchable, but to me it falls well short of the film to an almost embarrassing degree. Not quite as bad a comparison as the TV version of "The Shining" to the Kubrick film, but damn close...