War is funny as hell................................

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2008)

The First Casualty of War is not truth,apparently,but a sense of humour. "Kelly's Heroes" is a very funny anachronistic look at war every bit as worthy as the over - rated "Catch - 22"and without it's intellectual pretensions.We all know war is hell,but if you've got to be there,Jesus,if you can't have a laugh you might as well shoot yourself and save the Germans the price of a bullet.There are enough harrowing,gory,explicit war movies out there already,why not show war as the Cosmic Joke it really is. I never thought I'd write this sentence but Telly Savalas steals this movie.He plays the cigar - chomping sergeant/father figure to perfection,alternately cajoling and threatening,always professional and ruthless,it is a star - making performance and he revels in it. Clint Eastwood has a lot of fun as the Soldier with No Name(well,only Kelly)and slaughters nearly as many Germans as he did in "Where Eagles Dare"under the same director(is there a racist agenda at work here I wonder?).Don Rickles I'm not so keen on him,his sour humour - paradoxically - does not work in a comedy film,it's too bitter to fit in with the throwaway dialogue and quickfire gags. Mr Sutherland has the showiest part, his "Hippy Manque" persona neatly transposed from the then current Vietnam War to the European Front.He descends from his tank in a very neat fashion by sliding his arm along the gun barrel,and easing himself onto the ground imbuing every movement with the epitome of 1960s cool. A strange sort of morality pervades the movie,after all what is such a big deal about stealing a few million dollars worth of gold in the midst of global slaughter?Who are the real villains?Kelly's Heroes or Hitler,Stalin,Churchill and Roosevelt?Enough with the serious - the movie is a comedy and a damned good one.Even if you can think of no aspect of war that is in the least bit funny try to accept that for the combatants,having a sense of humour can be a saving grace.