Review of Catch-22 (1970) by Hal M — 02 May 2012
Joseph Heller's great novel makes for poor source material as a motion picture. Mike Nichols, still in his prime, took a decent shot at it. But nogo. It's watchable, has some moments, a good cast.
Yet the scenes never really synch properly, and the picture never achieves an authenticity of tone. Catch-22 the book was a true one-off-- author Heller himself could never recapture the magic in his subsequent novels; he doesn't seem to be the same Joseph Heller as wrote Catch-22! So I guess not so surprising screenwriter Buck Henry can't replicate that mojo here either.
This review of Catch-22 (1970) was written by Hal M on 02 May 2012.
Catch-22 has generally received positive reviews.
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