First thing I must mention is, that I am from Czech Republic and i've read the book, therefore my opinion may be a bit skewed. Despite of it all, I think this movie is brilliant comedy and nicely shows the absurdity of the first world war from perspective of Austria-Hungarian soldier. It shows life as it went on in that period of time and manages to throw in a few jokes for those, who know how it all ended up. Often times it is said, that vejk is the archetype of every Czech person and even though I'm not sure if I agree, he is the source of comedy and drama in the movie. If you dislike the main character, there's almost no point in watching the movie, but vejk grew into my heart. He is your guide through these times, and the fact that you don't know, if he is cunning or stupid enforces the comedy. All things considered, it's and amazing historical movie and a solid comedy, with absurdity as it's main topic.