The '70s had seen a number of movies dealing with suspicion of the government ("The Parallax View", "Three Days of the Condor", etc), and so "Hopscotch" plays it for laughs. Walter Matthau plays a CIA agent who decides to rat on the CIA, KGB, etc. Much of the movie has the CIA chasing him all over the place, while he outwits them at every turn. And there's a lot of great classical music every step of the way, as well as some great scenery. I wouldn't say that I had a specific favorite scene, but I did like Matthau's escape in Georgia.

It's just a funny movie, and I really liked it. Also starring are Glenda Jackson, Ned Beatty, Sam Waterston and Herbert Lom (the police chief in the Pink Panther movies). Director Ronald Neame also directed "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and "The Poseidon Adventure".

I knew absolutely nothing about "Hopscotch" before I began watching it, other than knowing it's a Walter Matthau film. However, I am VERY glad I saw it, as it turned out to be incredibly fun and one of the actor's best films...if not his best.

When the story begins, you soon see that Miles (Walter Matthau) is an incredibly talented CIA operative...sort of a super-spy but without the gadgets and hot sex you associate with James Bond. Instead, he's just very bright and unassuming...and does his job well. Unfortunately, his boss (Ned Beatty) is a total fool who has zero respect for the work Miles has done and even demotes him to a desk job! Miles has had enough and simply drops out of circulation for a few days to think about what to do with his life. So, after spending a few days with a rich Austrian lady, Isobel (Glenda Jackson) he hits on a scheme to destroy his boss and get revenge...and it does NOT involve going to work for the Russians! What is this plan? Well, it's very complicated, very clever and very funny....and the plot is very intricate and intelligently written. See the film and see what's next!

I can't say enough about how much I like this movie. There's really nothing I could change and the writing really was clever and spot on throughout the movie. Matthau is wonderful, the soundtrack of classical music (mostly Mozart) is fabulous and the ending made me smile. I have no idea why this film isn't rated higher or isn't considered some sort of dark comedy classic. I nearly scored this one a 10 I liked it so much....though I almost never give out 10s and decided on a well earned 9.