Altman's light hand

Rating: 8/10 (14 October 2003)

I had waited a long time to see the movie. I was lead to believe it was more gorey, aloof, pretentious, and serious than the TV show. My curiousity, however, finally lead me to rent out the special edition DVD and see why the "greatest comedy" tag was so often said of this one.
I hate to watch any movie with expectations, usually I don't get what I want, but with MASH I got more than I bargained for. At almost 2 hours, it's more lengthy than a regular comedy but only drags occassionaly. Altman's tendency to let a scene go on to a final conclusion could tend to make one lose interest if he didn't twist every situation into unexpected conclusions. Taking a golfing trip to Japan ending up in screwing over a commanding officer was one of the best.
The cast seem more natural in their roles than actors, none of them seem to realize their in front of cameras and refuse to pander, even if they never come across as actual doctors. Altman, however, seems to have left the movie in their care and they appear to have disregarded any effort to make it one. Which is why it works. Just as the characters disregard they're in a war that could end their lives, the actors disregard that they should be unhappy, look out of place, angry in favor of just having many good laughs.

In the end, I don't think I've ever laughed out so loud at a movie so old (barring Charlie Chaplin) from the simplest jokes. Just the words, "goddamn army" had me cracking up without control. WATCH IT!