Tonight's Movie: Hopscotch (1980)

Having very recently enjoyed Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson in HOUSE CALLS (1978), I was quite interested in seeing them paired again in HOPSCOTCH (1980).

Fortunately I had picked up the Criterion Collection DVD in a half-price sale not long ago, so I didn't have to wait long to watch it.

HOPSCOTCH is a lighthearted spy film, the enjoyable type of "midrange" movie released with some frequency decades ago, which is sadly largely missing from today's moviegoing scene.

Matthau plays Miles Kendig, a CIA field agent who is benched by his new boss (Ned Beatty) for not arresting his Soviet counterpart Yaskov (Herbert Lom) when he had the opportunity.

Miles hadn't arrested Yaskov for logical reasons, and rather than sit at a desk until his retirement, Miles decides to write a tell-all memoir to embarrass the CIA in general and his boss in particular. He drips the manuscript to them one chapter at a time, causing the intelligence community in both the U.S. and the Soviet Union to go nuts.

Miles's old flame Isobel (Jackson) warns Miles that he's crazy and will have to go on the run, but he enjoys the thrill of the chase and has an ultimate plan, which he can accomplish with Isobel's help...

This was a fun 106-minute watch. I enjoyed that while it was about serious things, it's treated mostly as a comedy; even when Miles is inside a house being blasted to pieces by the CIA, you never really fear for his safety.

Instead, it's fun to see him continue to pull tricks out of his bag as the movie goes on. I'll add that his grand finale, involving a small plane, was curiously reminiscent of the plane finale in one of Matthau's very best films, CHARLEY VARRICK (1973).

Matthau and Jackson again have good chemistry, although I think their relationship isn't developed as well as in HOUSE CALLS. The characters have a history when they reconnect, and Jackson's Isobel unfortunately isn't given enough to do; this film is more Matthau's show than anything, though Jackson's brisk, ultra-competent presence is welcome.

I have to admit that I used to kind of write Matthau off, but ever since seeing CHARLEY VARRICK I have increasingly come to appreciate him; for instance, I loved him in MIRAGE (1965), and he was terrific in THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974), when I noted I was becoming more of a fan. I've gone from considering him "hit or miss," as I wrote in my MIRAGE review, to actively seeking out his films, and I once again enjoyed him in this.

Lom is fun in a small, twinkly part as the Russian spy, while Beatty's cartoonish character -- not too far from his Otis in SUPERMAN (1978) -- adds to the viewer not needing to take the film seriously. Sam Waterston plays Miles's colleague who tries to support him with the top brass, to no avail.

The film was a family affair, with Matthau's son David playing a hapless CIA agent and his stepdaughter Lucy Saroyan (daughter of William!) as a game-for-anything private pilot he hires; when they part, she tells Miles he reminds him of her father.

HOPSCOTCH was directed by cinematographer-turned-director Ronald Neame. It was written by Brian Garfield and Bryan Forbes, based on Garfield's novel. The cinematographers were Arthur Ibbetson and Brian W. Roy.

The movie is rated R for language. An interesting extra on the Criterion disc is the option of turning on the "family friendly" soundtrack which aired on broadcast TV, which deletes the saltier language.

The Criterion disc features a restored print and also includes interviews, trailers, and an essay by Glenn Kenny.

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