Hopscotch Review

From 1980 comes a long forgotten Walter Matthau classic...Hopscotch.  Matthau plays CIA agent Miles Kendig who looks to get "out of the game"...to retire - his way.  When asked what he'll do with all his spare time, he decides to write his memoirs and send copies to the CIA along with other agencies in Russia, China, France & England.  This man knows every CIA secret from the past 20 + years!

Kendig's inept boss, Myerson (Ned Beatty) sets out to track him down & kill him...anyway possible.  The problem is - Kendig has help from a long time associate & part-time girlfriend - Isobel von Schonenberg. (Glenda Jackson) Kendig manages to stay one step ahead of both the CIA and Russian agent Yaskov (Herbert Lom) despite giving them clues to his whereabouts. 

Amazon.com shows this as being a "PG" rated film.  Don't believe it.  I taped this years ago from HBO and it's purely an "R" rated film...mostly for the language from Myerson.  Example:

[On the phone, tracing Kendig's location]
Myerson: ...You're kidding!
[hangs up]
Myerson: I don't believe this... I DON'T F****** BELIEVE THIS!... Sorry, Beverly. He actually had the b**** to hide out in MY HOUSE!

A very young looking Sam Waterston (from Law & Order fame) appears as Kendig's understudy - Joe Cutter.  Myerson places him in charge of tracking down Kendig...without a lot of success.  Also appearing is Matthau's son, David Matthau as Ross.

Funny?  You bet - but for adults only.