Hopscotch
When CIA operative Miles Kendig deliberately lets KGB agent Yaskov get away, his boss threatens to retire him. Kendig beats him to it, however, destroying his own records and traveling to Austria where he begins work on a memoir that will expose all his former agency's covert practices. The CIA catches wind of the book and sends other agents after him, initiating a frenetic game of cat and mouse that spans the globe.
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- Cast：
- Walter Matthau , Glenda Jackson , Sam Waterston , Ned Beatty , Herbert Lom , David Matthau , George Baker
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Reviews
i must have seen a different film!!
Don't listen to the negative reviews
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Although Hopscotch is lovingly photographed in many locations around the world and beautifully played by its stars Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson, I could not quite get into it.Matthau plays a top CIA man who is stationed in West Germany and who has his corner of the Cold War down to a science. His opposite number for the Russians is Herbert Lom and they hold each other in mutual respect.That's not good enough for Ned Beatty the new guy in charge who after Matthau recovers secret microfilm from Lom, Beatty wants to know why not terminate Lom. Matthau considers that kind of stupid because he and Lom know each other so well that if that ever happened and the Russians put a new guy in charge, it would take him years to get know a new man's moves as well as Lom. In point of fact by the time this film was made, the whole Cold War had settled into something like this.But Beatty's a true believer and he relieves Matthau. A move Matthau doesn't take lying down. He writes his memoirs and threatens to reveal all including a lot of embarrassing moments for the CIA. Beatty than makes it a crusade to get Matthau and Matthau with the help of girl Friday Glenda Jackson leads them on a merry chase on two continents.As ridiculous a fool as Beatty is made out to be, in point of fact he's not wrong. But this was the Seventies, the age of Watergate and as is said in the film, National security is not the all embracing excuse it once was.As for the ending you'll find almost the same ending in Charley Varrick, a movie that starred Walter Matthau that I liked a lot better.
CIA agent, deemed an over-the-hill insubordinate by his new boss, quits and threatens to write his memoirs, exposing the department's dirty tricks to all the nations. Callow screenplay by Brian Garfield and Bryan Forbes (adapted from Garfield's book) was criticized at the time for turning the original, darker spy material into a lightweight affair retooled for its stars, Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson (reteamed from 1978's "House Calls"); but if the critics were implying that the film was a comedy, they were way off the mark. Matthau and Jackson once again show a nice rapport, but the sharp-tongued dialogue is sniggering and pushy instead of funny, particularly a 'fag' joke that was de rigueur for the early '80s. The film looks terrible in dull browns and olive greens, moves sluggishly, and is filled with characters one would otherwise avoid. *1/2 from ****
As I was sitting and watching this film I couldn't help but think how lucky we were to be able to enjoy so many films starring Walter Matthau. He was an original, and how fortunate he evolved beyond a supporting actor to a full-fledged movie star. Some actors ACT funny. Mattau WAS funny.And it is watching Matthau that makes this film enjoyable. It's a mildly clever spy plot, with Matthau playing the fed-up CIA agent that decides to write a tell-all book and then disappear. Along the way he reignites what was an apparently long-standing love affair with Glenda Jackson. Although Jackson definitely plays second-fiddle here to Matthau, I was reminded how much I once enjoyed that fine British actress. Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom each do their part in supporting roles. And the film comes together nicely...not totally unpredictably...but it's pleasing.Perhaps not one for the DVD shelf, but one to savor...at least once.
This guy did more funny pictures than anyone. He should be in film class in the very first introduction. The Class title? Comedy 101.You wanna laugh? You wanna laugh again? Watch Hopscotch. This one is a keeper. You can't go wrong when Walter Matthau is an aging CIA man put out to pasture and he doesn't take kindly to it. That's OK though, he'll get his revenge. The way he makes fools of his former co-workers is just classic.I can't say enough about Mr. Matthau as a comedic actor. He just brought the goods. Maybe it's his "looks and acts like someone you know" way or he was just talented as hell. I think maybe it's both.
