Hopscotch *** (1980, Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Ned Beatty, Sam Waterston, Herbert Lom, George Baker) – Classic Movie Review 5396

Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson, the hit star pairing from 1978’s House Calls, re-team to good but lesser effect in director Ronald Neame’s uneven but still sparky 1980 spy spoof.

Based on the novel by Brian Garfield, it is about a CIA agent called Miles Kendig (Matthau) who quarrels with his boss Myerson (Ned Beatty), is demoted to a desk job, quits the CIA and, at the suggestion of a Soviet spy named Yaskov (Herbert Lom), writes an autobiographical exposé of tell-all memoirs. Kendig then finds his life endangered by the CIA.

In Salzburg, he catches up with his old flame Isobel von Schmidt (Jackson) and the unlikely duo’s flame rekindles. Myerson and Cutter (Sam Waterston) of the CIA desperately but ditheringly set out to stop Kendig’s game permanently.

The appealing, odd-couple star duo keep the comedy going bouncily, even when director Neame seems hesitant. and help turn the movie into a quite zesty charmer. Beatty, Waterston, Lom and George Baker as Westlake are useful assets.

Bryan Forbes and Brian Garfield’s screenplay is taken from co-screenwriter Garfield’s own novel.

Also in the cast are David Matthau as Ross, Ivor Roberts as Ludlum, Lucy Saroyan, Severn Darden, George Pravda, Jacqueline Hyde, Mike Gwilym, Allan Cuthbertson, Terry Beaver, Ray Charleson, Ann Haney, Christopher Driscoll, Michael Cronin, Roy Sampson and Douglas Dirkson.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5396

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com