Alan Arkin's finest hour...

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2008)

Alan Arkin has spent his film career portraying characters out of step with their surroundings. It's a kind of world-weariness that's etched onto every line of his oddly expressive face. He is also the only actor I've ever seen whose eyes remain fixed in a catatonic gaze, all the while he is howling with rage or utter disbelief at the sheer absurdity surrounding him. Yossarian is QUINTESSENTIAL Arkin. He knows that the concept of war is completely insane, and eventually comes to realize that the "big brass" has it's own private agenda. He and the other men in his squadron are mere pawns in this exercise, and Yossarian wants NO part of it. His numerous and failed attempts to convince his superiors that he is unfit to fly are both hilarious and poignant in their depiction. Yossarian is playing a game he cannot win, for the deck is too stacked against him. Not to be missed.