“Hopscotch” thus becomes a comic thriller and travelogue, with Matthau in assorted Homberg hats, safari jackets and trenchcoats, merrily plotting this trick, that escape and the occasional humiliation, singing along, humming and on occasion conducting the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart every step of the way. My favorite scene is the first meeting between Kendig and Jackson’s Isobel as they pretend not to know each other while she acts as a wine snob before exclaiming, “Where have you been, you old goat?” I also like her correcting his pronunciation of “harassing.” As always with Ronald Neame, the film is well directed, though some scenes, especially the shooting up of the Tybee Island, Georgia, home of Myerson (Ned Beatty), go on a little too long. After years of working in Europe, he is to be demoted to a desk job because he failed, with good reason, to arrest the head of the KGB in Europe.
Author: semper loquitur
Published at: 2025-09-28 10:30:41
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