Funny, but not as "hilarious" as reputed

Rating: 5/10 (17 January 2003)

This trailblazing 1970 anti-war statement/comedy made a little controversey and set the stage for one of the best sitcoms of all time. Robert Altman directs the irreverent gags of Hawkeye, Trapper, Duke (Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Tom Skerrit, respectively) and the rest of the assorted doctors, nurses, and soldiers at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit (or MASH) during the Korean War (Altman strived to make it look like Vietnam to fool audiences). The film, though more vivid and realistic than previous war comedies, comes awfully close to being the standard hijinks-at-the-front romp. There are plenty of fresh, funny moments but the movie is nowhere near as uproariously hilarious as it is reputed. Most of the time, the dialogue is irrelevant and confusing, almost to the point of rambling, and the scenes are crowded with too many characters to understand much of it. Aside from the comedy, Altman failed at delivering "MASH"'s alleged anti-war message. Redeemed by a great series that ran nearly three times as long as the actual Korean War, and a great theme song, "Suicide is Painless."