The Insider
George Clooney’s mini-series Catch-22 begins this week; plus Under The Clock
Joseph Heller’s seminal anti-war novel from 1961 was famously declared “un lmable” before Mike Nichols actually turned it into a half decent movie in 1970. Alan Arkin took on the key role of Yossarian, supported by a superb ensemble cast including Jon Voight, Orson Welles and Martin Balsam. A fan of both Heller’s book and Nichols’ lm, George Clooney is the driving force behind this new six-part series that follows the fortunes of a group of war-weary GIs stationed in the Mediterranean for the duration of World War II. For those unfamiliar with the novel that gave the world the famous phrase, Catch-22 is the story of John Yossarian (Christopher Abbott), a US Air Force bombardier who can’t quite come to terms with the fact that thousands of people he has never met seem hell-bent on killing
him. Both rebellious and fearful, Yossarian is trying to survive the war against all the odds. His situation isn’t helped by his commanding o cer Colonel Cathcart (Kyle Chandler) constantly raising the number of missions his men are required to y. Nor is it helped by the eponymous bureaucratic rule which states that pilots driven ‘crazy’ by the pressure of ying could ask to be grounded. But fear for one’s safety is the thought process of a rational mind, so the individual who asks to be grounded must therefore be sane and thus able to continue ying missions. So it goes. In addition to Abbott and Chandler, the supporting cast includes Hugh Laurie and Clooney himself (watch out for David McSavage in one episode). Shot on location in Lazio and Sardinia, Catch-22 promises to be one of the most talked-about dramas of the year.