Considering how famous he is as a sardonic, cranky comedian,Walter Matthauwouldn’t be your first choice to playa James Bond-esque spy… and that’s what makes his casting inHopscotchso brilliant. Going off the plot description alone, you’d expect the lead character of this 1980comedic spy thrillerto be played by someone likeRobert Redford,Warren Beatty, orDustin Hoffman. YetMatthau’s unconventional performance takes the film in a zippier, more playful directionthat’s a breath of fresh air for otherwise familiar material.
‘Hopscotch’ Satirizes ’70s Paranoia Thrillers
Matthau plays Miles Kendig, a veteran CIA agent forced into a desk job by his boss, G.P. Meyerson (Ned Beatty), after he declines to arrest the head of the KGB during a mission in Germany. Never one for office work, Miles goes rogue and decides to write his memoirs, which are rife with juicy agency information. Although Miles’s protégé (and replacement), Joe Cutter (Sam Waterston), believes this is just an empty threat, Meyerson thinks he’s serious, especially when he starts receiving chapters from the upcoming book in the mail. With the help of his girlfriend, Isobel von Schönenberg (Glenda Jackson), Miles “hopscotches” across Europe and the US, keeping his former handlers on edge as they attempt to track him down before his book can hit the bestseller list.
Hopscotchwas based on a novel byBrian Garfield, who also wroteDeath Wish, which inspired the popularCharles Bronsonrevenge film franchise. The 1975 novel was one of many released in the wake ofthe Church Committee Congressional hearings, which investigated widespread abuse carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency. Combined withthe Watergate hearings, there was a growing sense that our institutions weren’t being honest with us, and anyone who discovered the truth was deemed expendable. From this sprang a series of films later dubbed paranoia thrillers, in which ordinary citizens played by movie stars like Redford (Three Days of the Condor), Beatty (The Parallax View), and Hoffman (Marathon Man) found themselves pursued by shadowy government entities.
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Although Garfield’s novel was deadly serious, the film adaptation by legendary British directorRonald Neame(The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) was anything but that. Rather than portray the top brass at the CIA as nefarious and clever, Neame imagines them as bumbling bureaucrats tripping over themselves. Meyerson and his team are constantly foiled by Miles, who delights in frustrating the most powerful people on earth after they’ve wronged him. They might be able to commit coups across the globe, yet they can’t stop an old man from publishing a book (in many ways, imagining the deep state as incompetent might be more frightening than imagining them as efficient).Hopscotchhas all the trappings of a classic ’70s paranoid thriller,but with a more farcical approach.
‘Hopscotch’ Is Walter Matthau at His Best
By the time Matthau madeHopscotch,he had been acting on stage and screen for over three decades. Hewon an Oscarfor his supporting turn inBilly Wilder’sThe Fortune Cookie(the first of 10 onscreen pairings withJack Lemmon) andTony Awardsfor the original Broadway productions ofA Shot in the DarkandThe Odd Couple. Although he would play against type in dramas likeFail Safe,Charley Varrick, andThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three, he was essentially known as a comedian due to his frequent appearances in Wilder movies (The Front Page,Buddy Buddy) andNeil Simonadaptations (The Sunshine Boys,California Suite). His presence inHopscotchbrings an expectation for slapstick,yet the brilliance of his performance is that it’s so subtle and underplayed.
UnlikeAustin Powers,Hopscotchisn’t a spoof of the spy genre, but rather a satire, which requires a much more delicate tonal balance. There’s never a moment’s doubt that Miles Kendig is good at his job, as he is able to thwart his superiors through skill and professionalism. Yet there’s always a glint in his eye that shows how much fun he’s having in what is likely his last hurrah. It’s the same glint that was ever present in Matthau’s persona, and it’s what made him such a beloved screen presence.
Retired CIA agent Miles Kendig, tired of bureaucratic politics, decides to write a memoir exposing agency secrets. As he plays a clever cat-and-mouse game with his former colleagues, Kendig uses his wit and resourcefulness to stay one step ahead.
Hopscotchis available to watch on The Criterion Channel in the U.S.
WATCH ON CRITERION CHANNEL
