"Now fair's fair, Henry. If I nail Hot Lips and hit Hawkeye, can I go home, too?"

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2020)

"MASH" tells the tale of a military medical unit operating during the Korean War. In order to deal with the reality and horrors of war, the characters - especially the top surgeons - adopt eccentric, free-spirited personalities. They make nemeses out of the sexy but officious Major Houlihan (Sally Kellerman) and the Bible-thumping Major Burns (Robert Duvall). The principal bunch of wacky fun lovers are "Hawkeye" Pierce (Donald Sutherland), Duke Forrest (Tom Skerritt), and martini-loving Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould).
Followed by the long-running TV series two years later, this dark comedy proved to be the first big hit for its celebrated director, Robert Altman. It raised irreverence to an art form, with some very funny lines along the way, and engaging performances from virtually everybody concerned. One might argue that the film has no real through-line in terms of story, and in truth, the script (by Ring Lardner, Jr., based on a novel by Richard Hooker) does have an episodic nature. But it's quite simply a fun film, one made in the days far before political correctness became more of a norm. It's also the first mainstream Hollywood film in which somebody utters an F-bomb (during the climactic football game, which is a real corker). It nicely captures a sense of chaos, with characters often talking right over each other, and rendering some of the dialogue unintelligible. One highlight is a bit of revenge that much of the cast pulls on Hot Lips; it would play perfectly in any of the raunch comedies of the 1980s. Some viewers may feel a little queasy with the use of blood in various operation scenes.
As was already said, the cast is first-rate. Sutherland, Skerritt, and Gould make a good team, and receive exemplary support from Kellerman, Duvall, Roger Bowen as the rather permissive lieutenant colonel, Rene Auberjonois as the well-meaning reverend, David Arkin as Vollmer, and Michael Murphy as "Me Lai" Marston. Many of the remaining cast members were at the time unknowns (at least, to the acting profession), so they get official "introducing" credits: Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, Bud Cort, G. Wood, Gary Burghoff (the only actor here to reprise his role for the series), Jo Ann Pflug, Danny Goldman, etc.
Bright, largely upbeat entertainment, that remains utterly engrossing for the better part of two hours, with a memorable song, "Suicide is Painless", for which the music would be later appropriated for the series.
Eight out of 10.