I never read the book from which this show is derived. I
may have seen the movie, but if I did, it was a long time
ago. Many people love this book. I can't tell you whether
they did a great job adapting it or not. I'm sure you've
heard the phrase "Catch 22." This is where it's from.
The miniseries is very good. I'm sure you've seen a
million movies that tell you how "war is hell," but this one
really brings home not only the hell of war, but of military
bureaucracy and the toll it takes on the soldiers. The
cast is outstanding.
Christopher Abbott stars as John Yossarian, a bombadier
in WWII who desperately wants to go home, but the military
keeps changing the rules about how many missions he has to
fly before he can go home. Kyle Chandler plays Colonel
Cathcart, the bane of Yossarian's existence. George
Clooney and Hugh Laurie also have small roles.
Check it out and decide for yourself, but I'm sure you'll
enjoy the 6 episodes.
Based on Joseph
Heller’s seminal novel of the same name,
Catch-22
is the story of the incomparable, artful dodger,
Yossarian (Christopher Abbott), a US Air Force
bombardier in World War II who is furious because
thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill
him. But his real problem is not the enemy, but rather
his own army which keeps increasing the number of
missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet
if Yossarian makes any attempt to avoid his military
assignments, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a
hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule which specifies
that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of
dangers which are real and immediate is the process of a
rational mind; a man is considered insane if he
willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions,
but a request to be removed from duty is evidence of
sanity and therefore makes him ineligible to be relieved
from duty.
