"HOPSCOTCH" (1980) Review

 

"HOPSCOTCH" (1980) Review

Back in the 1970s, author Brian Garfield wrote a novel about an aging C.I.A. field agent who walked away from the Agency before being forced to retire called "Hopscotch". Published in 1975, Garfield's novel won the 1976 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Four years later, producers Edie and Ely A. Landau produced a screen adaptation of the novel that starred Walter Matthau.

Garfield's novel had been published during the period of the Church Committee Congressional investigations of the Intelligence community. Even before the novel had been published, the C.I.A.'s reputation had been under attack for alleged abuses and blunders. "Hopscotch" proved to be one of several novels published during the 1970s that used the Agency's blunders and abuses as the theme for their narratives.

The movie "HOPSCOTCH", released in 1980, began with C.I.A. Agent Miles Kendig leading a team to foil a microfilm transfer between KGB agents in Munich, West Germany. However, Kendig did not bother to arrest the KGB agents' leader, one Mikhail Yaskov (a longtime adversary and old friend), knowing it would take years for the Agency to become familiar with Yaskov's replacement. Unfortunately, Kendig's aggressive boss, G.P. Myerson, took umbrage at Kendig's lack of action and explanation. He reassigns Kendig to a desk job and assigns the latter's friend and protégé, Joe Cutter, to replace him in the field. Instead of accepting a transfer that was sure to lead to early retirement, Kendig decides to quit the Agency and write and publish a memoir exposing the dirty tricks and general incompetence of the C.I.A. - especially those operations connected to Myerson. The latter, enraged and fearful of Kendig's goal, orders Cutter to stop the veteran agent. And Yaskov, not wanting the K.G.B.'s follies exposed, also pursues his old adversary.

The Wikipedia page for Brian Garfield's novel had described it as possessing a "a dark, cynical tone". When I read that particular passage, I found myself wondering if the film adaptation had changed the novel's narrative. But according to Wikipedia, movie had followed the novel's plot pretty closely. Only the 1980 film had been made as a comedy. Although "HOPSCOTCH" lacked the novel's dark tone, I believe it did retain the latter's cynicism. At least three characters seemed to convey the novel's cynicism - Miles Kendig, his old love and former agent Isobel von Schönenberg and Joe Cutter. Both Kendig and Cutter seemed to view the Cold War they had been raging on behalf of the C.I.A. with cynical eyes, along with Myerson's hardcore and rigid attitude as a Cold War "warrior". Kendig also seemed to view his former boss as incompetent. This cynical humor - mainly directed at Kendig's boss - proved to be one aspect that made this film very enjoyable to watch. But there were other aspects of "HOPSCOTCH" that I had enjoyed.

One, I really enjoyed how Kendig managed to make a fool out of Myerson throughout the film. For me, watching Myerson act as Wile E. Coyote to Kendig's Roadrunner seemed like the backbone of Bryan Forbes and director Garfield's screenplay and the film's humor. The latter also seemed to be dominated by witty one-liners, especially from Kendig and von Schönenberg's characters. However, Cutter and even Myerson managed to occasionally display some wit. Thanks to Ronald Neame's direction, "HOPSCOTCH" seemed to give the impression of a charming film with a leisurely pace. Yet, both Neame and film editor Carl Kress managed to inject the right amount of energy in the film's pacing to prevent me from getting bored. Also, I believe Kendig's situation had allowed him and his pursuers to travel to different parts of the American South and Western Europe - Georgia, the Washington D.C. area, Bermuda, Germany (West Germany then), Austria, France and Great Britain. I also enjoyed Arthur Ibbetson and Brian W. Roy's cinematography. I thought the pair brought a good deal of sharp photography and color for the film's locations.

But aside from Garfield and Forbes' screenplay, I believe the film's best asset proved to be its cast. "HOPSCOTCH" featured some solid performances from the likes of David Matthau, George Baker, Ivor Roberts, Severn Darden, Lucy Saroyan, Allan Cuthbertson, and Herbert Lom as Kendig's professional adversary and good friend, Mikhail Yaskov. For me, the best performances came from leading man Walter Matthau, Ned Beatty, Glenda Jackson and Sam Waterston. The latter gave a relaxed, yet sardonic portrayal of Joe Cutter, a veteran C.I.A. operative who seemed at least a decade or two away from becoming the experienced, yet disenchanted agent that Kendig had become. I thought Waterston did an excellent job of conveying Cutter's position at this crossroad in his life and profession. Glenda Jackson was gloriously witty and sharp as Kendig's old love, Isobel von Schönenberg. She managed to convey Fraulein von Schönenberg's own cynicism with her former profession and at the same time enjoy her current life as the widow of a wealthy Austrian aristocrat. Unlike Kendig, Jackson's von Schönenberg had learned to move on. Ned Beatty's portrayal of the ruthless and petty C.I.A. boss G.P. Myerson could have easily spiraled into one-dimensional villainy. But thanks to Beatty's skillful performance, he managed to convey Myerson's ugly adherence to the Cold War ideology and at the same time his humanity. Walter Matthau seemed in top form as the wily, yet very likeable Miles Kendig. Matthau did a great job in conveying his character's professional demeanor, wisdom and cunning in the latter's conflict with Myerson. At the same time, Matthau managed to hint some of Kendig's less admirable qualities - his vindictive response to be demoted by Myerson, his stubborn inability to walk away and make a new life as Isobel had done, as the film's final scene managed to indicate. In Miles Kendig, Matthau had created a spy never seen before or since. Pity.

By this point, one would think I have no complaints against "HOPSCOTCH". Well . . . perhaps I have one or two minor complaints. One, I noticed that two-thirds into the movie I nearly found myself falling asleep. I believe the movie's pacing had briefly lost its beat at this point. Which makes me wonder if "HOPSCOTCH" could have benefitted from a slightly shorter running time. I also noticed that "HOPSCOTCH" seemed in danger of becoming one long "Road Runner" cartoon, especially since Kendig always seemed to be one step ahead of Myerson and the C.I.A. with very little effort or danger. Fortunately, Kendig's plans finally seemed to be in danger of falling apart and the movie acquired a bit of edge during during the last twenty minutes.

Although over forty years old, "HOPSCOTCH" managed to hold up very well after so long. The story's criticism of the intelligence community and "cold-war" style politics remain relevant, even to this day. And I have to say it, between the colorful travelogue, Kendig's schemes against Myerson and an excellent cast led by Walter Matthau, "HOPSCOTCH" managed to remain a very entertaining movie.





R.I.P. Glenda Jackson (1936-2023)