★★★★
Artful dodger Yossarian is a bombardier in the U.S. Air Force during World War II who is upset that thousands of people who he has never met are trying to kill him. His biggest problem isn't the enemy, though, it's his own army that keeps increasing the number of missions soldiers must fly in order to complete their service.
Episodes: 6 Classification: 18 Channel: Channel 4 / Hulu
A worthy adaptation of Joseph Heller's iconic war time satire, Luke Davies and David Michôd's incredible scripts combined with the impeccable direction of Grant Heslov, Ellen Kuras, and George Clooney deliver a darkly comic tragedy. Capturing the novel's deconstruction of hypocrisy, madness and how the concept of victory is skewered by personal ambitions, Christopher Abbott leads a talented ensemble as John Yossarian, the bombardier desperate to escape the U.S. airforce before the incompetence of his superiors gets him killed. Over the course of the series, the comedy of Yossarian's situation is stripped away with every tragedy. Humour builds with each arbitrary reason that Yossarian's mission count is raised, his attempts to then counter them are foiled creating a worse situation for himself, usually raising the mission count inadvertently and as the fear of his demise grows witnesses the death of one his fellow airmen. The cycle begins all over, episode to episode, just like Heller's novel, Yossarian's grip to reality is loosened with every opportunity for escape being ripped away from him and seeing the horrors of war take everyone he cares about away from him.
Heslov's, Kuras's and Clooney's direction captures the romanticism of the period, from the production design, locations, music choice and from how they direct the attitude in the performances particularly in Kyle Chandler as Colonel Cathcart and Daniel David Stewart as Milo Minderbinder. It all serves the deconstruction, every element of Catch 22 that derives joy or comedy is all but stripped away by episode 5 leaving the audience and Yossarian with the harsh truth of the time period. That the glamour and honour of what is being fought for is meaningless; Yossarian is rewarded for a mistake, Cathcart believes the more planes he commands, the better commander he is, Clooney's character of Scheisskopf is obsessed with marching formations over training pilots for warfare. Minderbinder is perhaps the most honest character of all, shirking all pretence of loyalty to victory for capitalist successes, as his conduct as mess officer leads to him building an international business syndicate connecting the allied and axis powers through the trading of goods and services making the very conflict itself meaningless.
Yossarian seems himself as pawn who has no control of his life, as figures like Cathcart, Korn, and Scheisskopf see the war and the men fighting it as a tool to boost their own personal standing. No better representation of this can be seen than the incredible promotion of Major Major Major Major, a character who receives a leadership position just so Cathcart doesn't admit to a personal error that he didn't realise that the Lieutenant's name was Major. Yossarian's interactions with his fellow compatriots such as Nately, Clevinger or McWatt show that the character is much more than an individual losing his mind, Christopher Abbott gives a great humanity and humility to the performance never making Yo-Yo's growing paranoia tiresome. He's not a character devoid of hope or sympathy in fact its those qualities that make him so aware of the danger that he and his friends are being put into, Abbott's best scenes are when he would visit Rome or interact with characters outside of the military and you can see the character's genuine compassion for those around him. Catch-22 has Yossarian realise that the ideals of the country he is fighting for are not represented by the men who commands him and in some cases by the men who serve with him. Every thing that Yossarian can believe in is stripped away until he is left with his own truth of who he is and what the maddening cycle his life has become.
But the dire realities of Catch-22 doesn't mean the more lighthearted elements of the series aren't absolutely joyous. Yossarian has his fair share of comedy and tragedy but when Davies and Michôd deliver the satire, it is golden. From Major Major's illustrious promotions, Cathcart's ridiculous obsessions to Minderbinder's bizarre business acumen just makes the world of the show all the more absurd and allows for the dramatic moments to hit all the harder. The absurd nature never distracts from the subject matter but instead allows for a unique commentary of warfare and the purpose of war, that even with its historical setting has contemporary connotations for the audience. While Yossarian's story reaches a narratively satisfying conclusion by the end of episode 6, Catch-22 doesn't go for the "hurrah" endings of the period, these characters don't go off to a better beginning, the war rages on not just on the European front but for the wars to come, the cycle never ends and these characters are just pawns from figures like Yossarian, Doc Daneeka, and Scheisskopf all seemingly doomed to play their part no matter how aware they may be in the roles, except Milo Minderbinder, the smartest of us all.
Catch-22 is worthy of your attention, reflection and will keep you entertained with its tightly written scripts, impressive direction and notable performances. While the television budget may leave some effects to be desired, Davies, Michôd, Heslov, Kuras, and Clooney use their limitations to create the sense of entrapment Yossarian has within environment. Not a moment is wasted with its satire or drama, delivering amazing moments of great drama and even better comedic wordplay, Doc Daneeka's explanation of Catch-22 will always be one of the funniest moments ever written and Heslov's delivery is pitch perfect. While better consumed as a binge-watch to help the narrative motif of Yossarian's cycle, each episode serves as its own chapter with its own comedy and tragedy forming another benchmark in the character's journey. Overall, just an impressive display of storytelling on all creative fronts that doesn't serve as a criticism of war but an allegory on our own existence being out of our control.
Created by: #LukeDavies and #DavidMichôd
Main Cast: #ChristopherAbbott, #KyleChandler, #DanielDavidStewart, #RafiGavron, #GrahamPatrickMartin, #LewisPullman, #AustinStowell, #PicoAlexander, #JonRudnitsky, #GerranHowell, #HughLaurie, #GiancarloGiannini, #GeorgeClooney
Release Date: June 20th - July 25th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images from the Internet Movie Database, Synopsis from Google
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