Title: Hopscotch: The Criterion Collection 
Year: 1980
Director: Ronald Neame
Rating: R
Length: 105 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, English: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English
Stars:Walter Matthau
Glenda Jackson
Sam Waterston
Ned Beatty
Herbert Lom
Plot:Miles Kendig knows too much. One of the CIA’s top international operatives, he suddenly finds himself relegated to a desk job in an agency power play. Unwilling to go quietly, Kendig, with the aid of a chic Viennese widow, puts himself back in the game by writing a memoir exposing the innermost secrets of every major intelligence agency in the world. The CIA wants Kendig dead, but he refuses to cooperate—he’s having too much fun. Based on Brian Garfield’s best-selling novel, and starring the inimitable comic team of Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson, Ronald Neame’s Hopscotch is a smart and stylish tale of international intrigue and a cat-and-mouse comedy.
Extras:Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Included Censored Television Audio Track
My Thoughts:
This was a fun, globe-trotting, semi-spoof of spy-thrillers with a decent cast and a good mix of romance, suspense and comedy. Walter Matthau as an American “007” just doesn’t quite cut it for me, and the over-played “bumbling” CIA spooks were a little much, but if you don’t think too much about the “reality” of the story, it’s easy to just enjoy the light-heartedness and fun. Glenda Jackson was the only real ray of sunshine, while Ned Beatty was just absurd (can’t do much about the way the character is written, I guess). Worth a look if you’re just looking to pass an hour and three quarters without getting into anything heavy.
Rating:
