Catch-22 (1970)
I’ve never been able to stand Robert Altman’s style. Millions of audience members are charmed by his noisy, busy atmosphere, but I very rarely can sit through one of his films in its entirety. I don’t think it’s clever to have multiple actors ad-libbing dialogue that overlaps each other to appear “realistic”. I find his sarcasm too slick and self-satisfied to laugh at. In MASH, I couldn’t laugh when the doctors cracked jokes while operating on broken bodies. I’ve never been able to remember that Altman didn’t direct Catch-22, since it had such a strong flavor of the rest of his work. However, this Mike Nichols movie was just as frustrating to me as the others. I found it more irritating than ironic that Jon Voight and Martin Balsam were arguing about war procedure while failing to notice a plane’s explosion directly behind them. The title’s meaning of the movie, that a man has to admit he’s crazy to get out of the Army, but any man who says he wants out isn’t crazy, felt glib and self-satisfying.
There was one scene that I did find very funny, though, so I will give credit where it’s due. Alan Arkin deliberately botches a bombing mission because he doesn’t want to destroy a harmless Italian town. Instead, he leads his squadron to drop their bombs in the Mediterranean Ocean. Rather than reprimand the soldiers (Martin thinks negative publicity could get the Army into trouble), they’re each given a special medal for their bravery. During the impromptu ceremony, Martin repeatedly stumbles over the words in the citations, squinting at the paper and asking for help – even on soldiers’ names.
Buck Henry’s adaptation cut back and forth constantly so I never knew the order of the scenes, and though some might have found his screenplay witty, I was so irritated, it took me a week to get all the way through the film. I could only stomach it in small increments. You’d never see a movie like this in the early 1940s, when America was boosting morale during WWII. Catch-22 was a sign of the times, created with 1970 attitudes. It should never had been a period piece; had it been set during the Vietnam War, the anti-war sentiments would have made more sense.
Many movies made in 1970 featured a very violent, and unexpected, ending that didn’t necessarily fit the tone of the rest of the film. As this movie was made in 1970, there were several shocking violent bits that were just thrust into what otherwise was supposed to be a comedy. In most scenes, Alan seemed to be barely holding back a giggle – until a huge dramatic plot point shocked him into dramatics. There was one visual that made me actually sick to my stomach; without spoiling it for those who like to be viscerally disturbed, I will just caution those who want to look away to do so about an hour and twenty minutes in when Alan is continually nursing an injured soldier.
Obviously, I didn’t like this movie. Just as obviously, Alan Arkin, Jon Voight, Anthony Perkins, Martin Balsam, Paula Prentiss, Richard Benjamin, Jack Gilford, Charles Grodin, Orson Welles, Martin Sheen, Bob Newhart, Bob Balaban, Austin Pendleton, and Art Garfunkel, all thought it was a good idea to act in it. Audiences at the time did go see it, but not in as many droves as they did to see another anti-war, cynical “comedy” released that same year: MASH. Tough luck.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to sudden, gruesome violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "ASA Movie Craze" for posting!
More Martin Balsam movies here!
There was one scene that I did find very funny, though, so I will give credit where it’s due. Alan Arkin deliberately botches a bombing mission because he doesn’t want to destroy a harmless Italian town. Instead, he leads his squadron to drop their bombs in the Mediterranean Ocean. Rather than reprimand the soldiers (Martin thinks negative publicity could get the Army into trouble), they’re each given a special medal for their bravery. During the impromptu ceremony, Martin repeatedly stumbles over the words in the citations, squinting at the paper and asking for help – even on soldiers’ names.
Buck Henry’s adaptation cut back and forth constantly so I never knew the order of the scenes, and though some might have found his screenplay witty, I was so irritated, it took me a week to get all the way through the film. I could only stomach it in small increments. You’d never see a movie like this in the early 1940s, when America was boosting morale during WWII. Catch-22 was a sign of the times, created with 1970 attitudes. It should never had been a period piece; had it been set during the Vietnam War, the anti-war sentiments would have made more sense.
Many movies made in 1970 featured a very violent, and unexpected, ending that didn’t necessarily fit the tone of the rest of the film. As this movie was made in 1970, there were several shocking violent bits that were just thrust into what otherwise was supposed to be a comedy. In most scenes, Alan seemed to be barely holding back a giggle – until a huge dramatic plot point shocked him into dramatics. There was one visual that made me actually sick to my stomach; without spoiling it for those who like to be viscerally disturbed, I will just caution those who want to look away to do so about an hour and twenty minutes in when Alan is continually nursing an injured soldier.
Obviously, I didn’t like this movie. Just as obviously, Alan Arkin, Jon Voight, Anthony Perkins, Martin Balsam, Paula Prentiss, Richard Benjamin, Jack Gilford, Charles Grodin, Orson Welles, Martin Sheen, Bob Newhart, Bob Balaban, Austin Pendleton, and Art Garfunkel, all thought it was a good idea to act in it. Audiences at the time did go see it, but not in as many droves as they did to see another anti-war, cynical “comedy” released that same year: MASH. Tough luck.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to sudden, gruesome violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "ASA Movie Craze" for posting!
More Martin Balsam movies here!