So dry that it’s barely a
comedy, and yet so irreverent that it’s most definitely not a drama, the
winning Hopscotch offers a wry
depiction of Cold War-era spycraft. In fact, the most delightful aspect of the
movie is the way it treats international espionage as a big business rife with
the same sort of bureaucratic inefficiency, professional jealousy, and
small-minded vendettas that plague every other industry. Walter Matthau,
showcasing the loveable-scamp aspect of his screen persona instead of the
rumpled-grouch aspect, plays Miles Kendig, a CIA operative whom we meet on the
job in Europe. An old pro who sees all the angles and casually makes deals with
his KGB counterpart, Yaskov (Herbert Lom), Kendig has become a relic from the
era of gentleman spies. Returning to Washington, he’s belittled and demoted by his
crude but politically connected superior, Myerson (Ned Beatty). The idea of
taking a desk job doesn’t work for Kendig, however, so he discreetly shreds his
personnel file, slips out of CIA headquarters, and returns to Europe so he can
be with his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Isobel von Schonenberg (Glenda
Jackson), and plot his playful revenge against Myerson.
Kendig starts writing a
tell-all book about his life as a secret agent, sending copies of early
chapters to prominent figures in the global intelligence community. As
intended, the book makes Kendig a wanted man, so he commences a merry chase
around the globe with the goal of humiliating Myerson as utterly as possible.
Employing arcane knowledge, fake passports, and old spy-community contacts,
Kendig “hops” back and forth between various locations in America and Europe,
leaving clues that mock Myerson and other agents for their inability to catch
up with a seasoned veteran. Meanwhile, Kendig keeps sending chapters of the
book, with new secrets revealed on each page and the threat of the explosive
final chapter lingering over everyone involved.
Deftly written by Bryan Forbes
and Bryan Garfield (based on a novel by Garfield), Hopscotch is the sort of lighthearted romp that’s designed to
generate perpetual amusement, rather than laugh-out-loud hilarity, so viewers
expecting slapstick or verbal fireworks will be disappointed. Similarly, anyone
hoping for a replay of the bickering-lovers sparks that Jackson and Matthau
struck in House Calls (1978) is due
for a letdown, since the actors play characters who are cheerfully conjoined
from the beginning of the story to the end. Yet within these diminished
expectations, Hopscotch provides a
thoroughly pleasurable viewing experience. Director Ronald Neame shoots
locations beautifully, the story provides innumerable twists stemming from
Kendig’s incredible resourcefulness, and the acting is terrific. Beatty strikes
the right balance between buffoonery and competence, Jackson comes across as
clever and worldly, Lom is appealingly urbane, Matthau is appropriately
rascally, and costar Sam Waterston (as Kendig’s protégé/pursuer) lends a
charming quality of conflicted compassion.
Hopscotch:
GROOVY
3 comments:
Quite possibly the cutest spy movie ever made, in the best and most grownup sense of "cute." While it is indeed a 1980 movie, it definitely belongs here, because the 70s saw an explosion of expose books. There was Marchetti and Marks' The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence, providing the vicarious thrill of reading a book with whole blank sections excised by censors, followed up by Philip Agee's CIA Diary, Frank Snepp's Decent Interval, and John Stockwell's In Search of Enemies. I even have to wonder if Miles Copeland, father of musician Stewart Copeland and author of Game of Nations, vaguely inspired the name "Miles Kendig." Nowadays it takes Jason Bourne three harrowing movies to expose our dirty tricks. There can never be quite another Hopscotch, and that's a shame.
You guys make it sound so good but at the time Matthau was one of my very favorite actors and this is the film that changed that.
interesting side note (maybe)-- the novel is very "serious" and the project was originally developed for Warren Beatty... when he passed and the times changed, and the piece didn't seem fresh anymore, the creative beings involved changed it into a comedy and created a hit.
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