Hopscotch

George Baker, Glenda Jackson, Herbert Lom

Walter Matthau is in peak form in Hopscotch, a featherweight spy-game comedy in which he plays a CIA agent who's way smarter than his dimwitted superiors. That's the fantasy part--this a...( read more  read more... )musing cat-and-mouse game is so lopsided that you can't take it seriously. The movie's charm is derived from the sardonic pleasure with which Matthau makes his pursuers look like idiots, after they've targeted him for "termination" for publishing a tell-all memoir about his tenure in "the Company." He's no stool pigeon, however; it's his boss (played with blustery thick-headedness by the great Ned Beatty) who's abusing his power, so Matthau recruits an old lover (Glenda Jackson) to join him in a globetrotting game of clandestine cleverness. Under Ronald Neame's too-casual direction, this is a not-so-wild goose chase, but Matthau and Jackson (reuniting after they had fun making the 1978 comedy House Calls) have an easygoing chemistry that's nicely balanced with Matthau's cantankerous shenanigans. --Jeff Shannon

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74% liked it

R, 105 min.

Directed by: Ronald Neame

Released: January 1, 1980

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DVD Released: August 20, 2002

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Top Flixster Reviews


  • November 9, 2008
    has some truly hilarious moments and serves as a great precursor to many films in this vein that followed. no one could have played kendig better than matthau did.
  • June 7, 2007
    Walter Matthau and Sam Waterston reign supreme at the expense of poor Ned Beatty. Funny through and through.
  • January 20, 2007
    A light US spy comedy - an unoriginal genre, but some very original ideas. In terms of thrill in the ride, this is like the first Pink Panther - too much comedy, not enough action to captivate.
  • December 18, 2006
    A sadly underrated movie, in my opinion...a lot of fun to watch Walter Matthau take on the bureaucracy. Watch for it on late night TV!
  • May 24, 2006
    Whether it's the classical music score, the direction, the script or just the cast, there's a feeling of understated class about this movie that you don't seem to experience at the cinema any more. The fact that it runs out of ideas towards the end doesn't really matter. The fun ... ...( read more )

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