In Which Hulu’s CATCH-22 Gets A Dryly Funny Full Trailer

Clooney in bureaucratic doofus mode is always worth a watch.

By Apr. 24, 2019

In just a few weeks, Hulu will drop its long-awaited, limited series adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Starring George Clooney (who also produced, in addition to directing two of the series' six episodes), Christopher Abbott, Kyle Chandler, Hugh Laurie and a ton of other dudes, it looks as though this adaptation will maintain the darkly comic spirit of the source material.

Let's take a look.

Yup, that's Catch-22, alright. The hell of bureaucracy, the absurdity of war, the sneaking suspicion that the people in charge are absolutely doofuses - all are represented here, and in a snappy, meticulously-composed way that calls to mind the work of the Coen Brothers (that feeling is, admittedly, helped along by Clooney's presence). We're into it.

For those unfamiliar with the source material, Deadline's got a solid breakdown of the plot:

"Catch-22 is 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."

Word on the street, from reliable sources, has this one pegged as being very good. As such, we'll be tuning in when Catch-22 (directed by Clooney, Grant Heslov and Ellen Kuras) hits Hulu on May 21st. How 'bout y'all? You feeling this one, or think you'll just reread the book instead? Sound off below.

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