10/10 -- Perfect comic genius!

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 1999)

You have to learn how to watch this movie..., or, at least, I did. About twenty to thirty minutes in I realized the layers of humor present in the script and the performances. The more you pay attention, the more you catch. Whether it's an unobtrusive sight-gag which could easily slip by unnoticed, or a beautiful piece of ironic dialogue, theirs is a gold mine of material here that a casual viewer will just miss. At the same time, there is present a level of comedy that cannot be escaped. Viewing it carelessly will produce the idea that the film is a dark and serious film peppered with moments of bizarre physical comedy and the odd pratfall. Watching more closely reveals that the film is much tighter and more consistent than it might first appear to be.
The performances, also, are superb. Peter Sellers is simply wonderful in all three of his roles (and while I have a hard time imagining it, I bet he would have been great in Pickens's role as well). George C. Scott takes a script which makes the military look ridiculous (and more than a little disturbing) and milks it to the bone, pulling every ounce of power out of a finely crafted piece of writing. Especially wonderful is how every character plays everything completely straight. From experience, I know that this is a difficult kind of comedy to play, i.e., when everything is funny to the audience but nothing is funny to the characters.
Lastly, the film is very tight. Some might complain that it's slow in places, and I suppose that's fair. But I wouldn't cut or trim a thing. The long scenes of procedure aboard the plane are absolutely crucial, since the film is about the inanities of military procedure. The long scenes of dialogue in the war room are absolutely crucial because the film is about the inanities of government decision making. That, and the fact that the film is just a joy to watch from start to finish, more than make up for any criticism that one may care to make.