Catch-22

It is strange watching a 40 year old film when many of the leading players are still alive and still in film. In my mind, stars of 40 year old films should all be dead. I guess this makes me old. Catch-22 has Alan Arkin, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight and Jon Grudin staring in this now classic (is this still standard high school english fare?) tale of war and the psychology of the soldier. Arkin is continually battling a catch-22 situations as he tries to get sent home.

You can get sent home if you are crazy, but you must ask to get sent home and if you ask to get sent home, then you are clearly not crazy.

Staying alive is the secret to life.

There is a law that says you cannot tell me what the law is.

The mood of this film is clearly a precursor to the MASH television series. The crazy person who is the most sane person around, the goofy humor in trying to cope with the insanity of war, the occassional serious moment dealing with death. Catch-22 takes a serious subject and provides a palatable way to think about how ridiculuous and inane it is. And it is able to do this with WWII, which is generally an untouchable war when it comes to anti-war sentiment.
3-stars