10 out of 10 - spoilers

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 1999)

Before SAVING PRIVATE RYAN tried, and failed, to be the greatest war movie ever made, there was M*A*S*H*. Sometimes the blackest comedy, sometimes a serious drama, it will never bore you. Tom Skerritt proves why he is one of the most sought after character actors in film today, along with Donald Southerland and Eliot Gould. They play three army doctors on the front lines of the korean war, but the movie winks at us with allusions to Vietnam. They know that their services are indispensible, so they basically take over the camp and do whatever they please. Their first victim is the hypocrite Major Burns, played by Robert Duvall, who is passive/aggressive only the way Robert Duvall can be. By day, he is teaching bible lessons and moralizing, but by night, he is trying to get into Hot Lips pants. It isn't long before he has to go, leaving our heroes free to womanize, drink, and smoke grass. Don't let the hijinks fool you, they are fine and dedicated surgeons. They're just trying to keep their sanity in an insane situation.