Catch .44

I began reading Joseph Heller's Catch 22 while waiting for work in central Florida. I was bored, had the book with me, as I'd been meaning to read it, and decided to sit by the pool and start it. I made myself comfortable and opened the book. There were a few families and individuals scattered pool-side. From almost the first paragraph I began to giggle. People glanced at me. I read more and giggled more. I tried to muffle the laughs, but muffling caused me to laugh even more. People seemed both amused and annoyed by me. After a few pages, I left the pool, went back to my room to read in private. Catch 22 was possibly one of the most laugh-out-loud (LOL for the kids) books I've ever read.

The term catch 22, within the context of the novel is basically, if one is "crazy," one should be discharged from the army. However, if one knows that one is crazy, then the army deems acknowledgement as being sane and thus, no discharge. The statement being that there are a lot of crazy soldiers in the army that don't know they're crazy, fighting for our freedom.... Clinger from the TV show, M.A.S.H. acted crazy but was never discharged, like the main character of Catch 22. A comparison would be kind of like wanting to get a union job, but you can't because you're not in the union and the only way to get into the union is to have a union job... follow? I guess the term also refers to a situation where one can't win, "damned if you do, damned if you don't."

Speaking of "damned if you do and damned if you don't" the trailer for Catch .44 shows that the main characters (the women) are in a catch 22 situation. So, Catch .44 is either double no-win situation or nobody in the film wins or the film is titled in honour of the calibre of the .44 magnum gun that made Dirty Harry's day.

Either way it looks like one of those slick double-cross movies where everyone has an agenda and no-one is who they seem and the good guys are bad guys and the bad guys are bad guys that may or may not be good guys and criminal activity is an out for some folks who are in dead end jobs but nothing is as easy or attractive as it seems and.... well, that's only the moral.

Bruce Willis is getting old. His edge, at least in this trailer, is gone. Forest Whitaker is always great and he seems to carry the trailer. Malin Ackerman, as annoying as she was in Watchmen (and I loved Watchmen), didn't seem annoying in the trailer for Catch .44.

I'd like to see Catch .44 when it comes out on video, but since there is no video store near me I guess I won't be able to see it...