Very Interesting Film But Not Perfect

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2007)

Donald Sutherland & Elliott Gould both built their careers out of this film. Robert Altman got major recognition for this film. This is the only film that Sally Kellerman is remembered for.
The fact is the cast is stellar, & it almost won best picture except for an even better film called Patton & George C Scott won that year. Why did this one miss when it echoed the anti-war themes that were prevalent in the United States when the film was made?
One reason is Patton is a flat out great film. Patton has Francis Ford Coppola. MASH while it has very good sequences, it has sequences that if they were left out of the movie no one would miss them. Both films are based on novels, but MASH is based upon a different type of novel than Patton. Patton is biographical, MASH novel base is not.
Expert advice is the final reason. Omar Bradley helped add an extreme touch of realism to Patton. With MASH, you always get the feeling the script has some sections that are whole cloth. While the cloth sections are entertaining (like the erotic Last Supper Sequence), the viewer just does not get the same feeling that realism establishes.
This film was a great kick off for the TV series which borrowed everything it could borrow from it from the sets to Radar. The series couldn't borrow the rest of the actors & that is the actors loss.
I want to put in a plug for Roger Bowen who played Col Henry Blake in this movie. Bowen is often over looked because of the others in the cast, but he is a darned fine actor & good in comedy. He was an integral part of a hit sit-com on CBS. Can you name it?
I case you give up, it is ARNIE.
Originality does run out late in this film. The football sequence is the least original part of the script. It had been done before, & again better than this film does it.