There’s a method to the madness of war in George Clooney’s Catch-22 trailer

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Everyone knows that war can be hell, but what if there were a method to all the madness?

Hulu has deployed a trailer for CATCH-22, a comedic crime-drama executive produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov on behalf of Smokehouse Pictures, along with Richard Brown and Steve Golin on behalf of Anonymous Content. As a 6-episode limited series, CATCH-22 is based on Joseph Heller’s seminal novel of the same name, and tells 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.

I'm sorry, what? Who makes up these rules anyway? Oh … I just remembered who calls the shots. Let's press on, shall we?

The cast for CATCH-22 includes Christopher Abbott (Yossarian), Kyle Chandler (Colonel Cathcart), George Clooney (Scheisskopf), Hugh Laurie (Major de Coverley), Giancarlo Giannini (Marcello), Daniel David Stewart (Milo), Rafi Gavron (Aarfy), Austin Stowell (Nately), Graham Patrick Martin (Orr), Gerran Howell (Kid Sampson), Jon Rudnitsky (McWatt), Kevin J. O'Connor (Korn), Pico Alexander (Clevinger), Tessa Ferrer (Nurse Duckett), Lewis Pullman (Major Major), Josh Bolt (Dunbar), Jay Paulson (Chaplain),  Julie Ann Emery (Marion) and Grant Heslov (Doc Daneeka).

Luke Davies and David Michôd will act as co-writers and executive producers on the project, with Clooney also serving as a contributing director. alongside Heslov and Ellen Kuras, who also helped produce the mini-series for Hulu. Each talent directed two episodes a piece of the hair-brained wartime comedy.

If you ask me, the trailer does much to highlight Clooney's Cohen Brothers-like comedic sensibilities as well as his penchant for delivering a new spin on Laurel and Hardy's "Who's on First?" routine. I'll be enlisting myself to watch this one for sure.

CATCH-22 will report for duty on Hulu beginning on May 17, 2019.