Catch-22 Mini-Series Review

Catch-22 (2019)

Mini-series - 6 episodes
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Created by: Luke Davies, David Michôd
Based on: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Starring: Christopher Abbott, Kyle Chandler, Daniel David Stewart, Rafi Gavron, Graham Patrick Martin, Lewis Pullman, Hugh Laurie, George Clooney
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
During WWII in Italy, Army Air Forces bombardier Yossarian desperately tries to survive the war by getting grounded, but he faces the absurd military paradox of Catch-22: a man must be insane to fly dangerous missions, but asking to be grounded proves his sanity, thus forcing him to fly more missions.

Verdict
It's not that this is bad. It's average to above average, but it takes a book with an interesting angle on war that was so humorous and distills it to a message that's more generic and typical. It's the translation to screen that's so disappointing. The book has a wry sense of humor concerning the incompetence and ineptitude of the administration. Everything is backwards, and so many characters succeed by failing. It's not an easy property to translate. This series misses so much. It's not that comedic, taking a much more serious tone focusing on the horrors of war. The book distanced itself from the front lines and was frequently ridiculous. The series never approaches that and altogether skips so many scenes I hoped would be featured.
Skip it.

Review
This is based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Joseph Heller.

The series opens with Major Scheisskopf (George Clooney) more interested in parades than preparing men for war. I wish this had started with Scheisskopf and his XO discussing it to really point out the absurdity of his desire for parades during a war. With no context the parade doesn't seem as absurd as it should be. The book revels in absurdity. Administration is completely incompetent and the lower ranked men end up influencing decisions as the those in charge refuse to ever admit fault.

E1: Christopher Abbott, Pico Alexander play Yossarian, Clevinger

Clevinger (Pico Alexander) falls out of formation during a parade and Scheisskopf gets mad, wanting to punish Clevinger. They have a circular conversation that is the very essence of the book as to whether Clevinger can or cannot be punished as well as whether Clevinger stated as much and when he didn't state as much. I hoped for more scenes like this in the series, but it strays more towards the generic. In the book Clevinger was deemed guilty simply because he was accused. This series focuses on the tragedy of war with Yossarian (Christopher Abbott) as the main character. So many movies have focused on the tragedy and destruction. We don't need another one. The ridiculousness of the book is unique, and this cuts out several conversations that explain what transpires and the decisions made. The series makes the Majors and Colonels look too competent.

Cathcart (Kyle Chandler) is the typical gritty military type more so than the shallow, self serving bureaucrat in the book. He raises the mission count because he's a hard liner while in the book he did it in a vain attempt to impress the General above him, feeling certain it would net him a promotion. Unfortunately the General didn't even like him. The book is so atypical. With the series focusing on Yossarian, this cuts out a lot of the higher level discussions about policy. There's no Korn and Cathcart dynamic. Korn frequently influenced and manipulated Cathcart.

E1

The book highlighted ineptitude, incompetence, selfishness, and misplaced patriotism. The book makes note of Cargill who was exceptionally bad at marketing. His lack of success made him a valuable asset to major firms because he could be relied on to run even the most prosperous enterprise into the ground, thus establishing significant losses for tax purposes. Failure generates success, and so many plot points in the book are backwards like that. The series did include Major Major getting promoted and hating having to meet with anyone. He devises a plan where he'll receive no visitors when he's in, but his assistant can allow people in when he's out. If he's in, keep them out. If he's out, let them in.

Yossarian's plan to get out of the war is to complete all the missions he's been assigned, of course that number keeps increasing. He was three away, then eight, and now eleven. He keeps flying them and Cathcart keeps adding to the minimum required for discharge. This makes it seem straightforward when it isn't. The administration looks more competent than in the book. That ineptitude is what made the book so charming. Every conversation is circular, a catch-22. The book championed failure. I wouldn't say this series even captures the spirit of the books. The book shows how those in charge twist the truth and the situation to fit their own intentions. Even that is often done out of pure ignorance. This series is much more dramatic and serious.

E1: George Clooney plays Major Scheisskopf

This has brief moments that feel like the book. Cathcart tells General Scheisskopf how they were very lucky they lost no men, then follows that up with how they were very unlucky that they didn't take down any enemy plans. Also this series should have had more Major Major. His father worked tirelessly to not grow alfalfa. Also, how does this not even include Washington Irving? He was absolutely critical in the book. While reading the book I imagined how this might appear on screen, and the rather ridiculous conversations. Part of the humor in the book is how events in the beginning circle back in the end. This adaptation is disappointing.