Catch-22

For as long as I can remember, I've been the paperback version of "Catch-22" the novel by Joseph Heller about a U.S. Army B-25 bombardier serving in the Mediterranean during WWII. I would once in a while pick it up, glance through the back cover description and think, "Man, I should probably read this". Well, I never did get around to it, and now that I've seen the movie, also something I would pass by at video stores back in the day, and on my Netflix cue until today, I'm regretting the fact that I haven't read the book yet because I feel rather conflicted about the movie that I wish I knew how I feel about the book so I could make up my mind for sure.

That said, I have to say I'm leaning towards recommending the movie, not so much because I thought it was such a masterpiece of storytelling, as the wikipedia article on it points out the movie is rather disjointed, but because somehow the themes it deals with seems so appropriate for the times we live in. Also in that same wikipedia article, it was also mentioned that "Catch-22" did not do as well as the other "Anti-War" movie that came out in 1970, the seminal "M.A.S.H.". But after having seen "Catch-22", I would have to disagree with the article comparing "M.A.S.H." with "Catch-22" on the basis of both movies being an "Anti-War" movie. Even though at first glance "Catch-22" may have "anti-war" themes just because it's set during a war, I felt it went much further then being simply about being against war. No, I thought the absurd length to which the story had gone, most of it, IMHO, revolving around how the main character and his "friends', fellow pilots who had to suffer the same f'ed up situation as the main character, were suffering not because of war necessarily but of their shameless, self-serving, and conniving superiors. Yes, superiors who, a bit of a spoiler here, asks Captain Yossarian, the main character, to "like" them in return for sending him home after all the crazy antics they had put Captain Yossarian and the pilots under their control through. The strange audacity while at the same time thinly veiled condescendence the conniving commanding officers has shown Captain Yossarian seemed so... middle management. As soon as I heard the self-serving commanding officers tell Captain Yossarian that he had to "like" them before they'll "do him and favor" I thought "Oh, yeah. I've seen that look before. Many times before..."

And that is why I have to give this movie a reluctant thumbs up, not because I think it was mediocre but because I think it will be painful for most people to sit through it. It is a very awkward movie to sit through. That said, I however think some people would understand where I'm coming from, especially if they look at the movie not as a war movie but an allegory for the way the world really works. While those without power are giving up their lives for God and country, those with power are busy working their schemes to line their pockets and will literally do anything to get their way, even if it's literally to blow up their own base. Oops, another spoiler there. :p

If you happen to cross paths with this movie, by all means watch it. But know it may leave you feeling ambivalent about the state of the world today. Or was that how things have always been will continue to be? Hmm...