Better In Your Head?--M*A*S*H

 

Spoiler Alert: Laughter is the best medicine. Unless you have an infection, in which case antibiotics are best.

THE BOOK (as "M*A*S*H-A Novel About Three Army Doctors")-Written by Richard Hooker (pseudonym of H. Richard Hornberger & W.C. Heinz), released 1968

THE MOVIE (as "M*A*S*H")-Directed by Robert Altman, written by Ring Lardner, Jr., released 1970

THE STORY-Displeased, distrustful and dis damn close to snapping, the wisecracking caregivers of the 4077th U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital spend their days in between Hell and Purgatory. The stakes are high and the laughs are lowbrow.

MIND THE GAP-One outstanding difference between M*A*S*H and Catch-22--this ribald war comedy made noise in three mediums. Why?

   1. The average doctor is more interesting than the average soldier.

2. Cynical humor holds greater appeal than humorous cynicism.

For all its flaws (laugh track, Mike Farrell), the TV show ended an eleven-season run with the most-watched episode of a scripted series.

Donald Sutherland and Tom Skerritt are varying levels of tolerable as the new cutters at camp, Captains Hawkeye Pierce and Duke Forrest, the Yankee and the Georgia Peach. Robert Duvall, the second-best actor from the state of Maryland, is utterly wasted alongside Sally Kellerman. Elliott Gould pops up rocking a look that suggests a luckier Jim Croce.

Poor taste runs rampant. One characters refers to himself as "a victim of homosexuality" which is right up there for me with Big L's verse in "Platinum Plus" as instances of homophobia so ridiculous I can't possibly get mad/offended. 

If nothing else, M*A*S*H gave the world a great blog name.

BETTER IN YOUR HEAD-M*A*S*H the film and M*A*S*H the TV show are much more fondly recalled than M*A*S*H the novel. (Contrast this with the continued classic status of Heller's Catch-22, while the film is widely viewed as an inessential entry in a great director's filmography, and the 2019 miniseries so blandly handsome of course George Clooney is heavily involved.) Shame. It's for sure worth a visit, a funny flyweight of a book, a better way to pass the time than the surprisingly average film. Nichols wanted so badly to craft a Keaton-esque triumph and wound up with cheap, cloddish drivel. The only difference between M*A*S*H and Porky's is the pesky ongoing war in the background.