dsmith-25000 I nice fun film to watch if you can get around Ned Beatty swearing all the time.Plot hole #1. Kendrick hires a single engine seaplane to fly from Georgia to Martinique. But changes destination to Bermuda. a small seaplane as pictured wouldn't have the range to get to either destination nonstop and no place to refuel in open water between U.S. and Bermuda. Also, even in 1980, a plane from U.S. would have to clear Bermuda customs, not just land at a resort.Plot hole #2. At the end, Kendrick after starting his bi-plane is in an open field with no visible cover. His plan was to fly it by remote control from some building. But he would clearly be seen by occupants of helicopter coming to catch him, so they would know he wasn't on the bi-plane.

Jim-500 Hopscotch is a light-hearted, fun film that treats us to witty dialogue, gorgeous European locations, a sumptuous Mozart score and a battle of wits between ex-CIA man Matthau and his former boss Beatty.It's hard to believe that Hopscotch received poor reviews when it came out. If you approach it with the right frame of mind--that is, looking for a clever, enjoyable film--then you'll have a ball. Maybe the reviewers wanted sex and violence? Sorry, none of that here. Maybe they wanted a movie that needed to make a deep point? Outside of satirizing the government and its feeble-minded minions, there is none. No, you'll have to settle for an elegant, sophisticated show filled with memorable characters that help you root for the good guys (or good guy). Can't imagine who would object to that.

edwagreen Walter Matthau is as clever as ever in this 1980 film. The problem with this that after the plot is announced, the movie becomes tedious at best.Matthau is the zany CIA man who is demoted and decides to write a tell-all book which is quite damaging to the agency. He meets his match in acting with Ned Beatty as the head of the bureau. Beatty knows how to use that salty language and whoever made his hairdo should have received some sort of award. His hair is arranged as if it's in a flower pot.Glenda Jackson, already a 2 time Oscar winner by the time this picture was made, plays his ex-CIA girlfriend who aids him in his attempt to allude everyone.There are some funny scenes but there is only so far you can go with such a plot.

TxMike I found this one on streaming Netflix, a real gem of a movie, every scene was absolutely interesting.Walter Matthau was almost 60, and that seems to be the age of his character, Miles Kendig, seemingly considered the best of the CIA agents. In the opening scene, to establish his character, he is in Germany and notices some interesting encounters in the crowd during an Octoberfest celebration. As the Russian spy exits the venue, Kendig confronts him, explains that he has photos, and demands the microfilm spy photo cartridge, in return he will "overlook" his being there.But Ned Beatty as Myerson is the younger, ambitious, division chief back in Washington. He isn't happy that the Russian spy is let go. So he sentences Kendig to a desk job, a menial filing job, until his retirement. But Myerson has skeletons in his own closet.Kendig decides not to get mad, but to get even. He basically fails to report to work and after a few days they begin to wonder where he was. In fact he was in Salzburg, Austria, visiting his girlfriend, rich widow Glenda Jackson as Isobel. Kendig decides to write a tell-all book about the CIA and in particular about the few he wants revenge against. He copies and sends the first chapter to a number of places, including Moscow and Washington.So most of the movie is about slick, calm Kendig always staying one or two steps ahead of the CIA who are trying to hunt him down. At each new location in hiding he writes another chapter and mails it to all the same places.Good movie, good story, good characters.SPOILERS: As the story is getting to its conclusion Kendig, also a pilot, buys an old plane outside London and tells one of the agents he will fly it to mainland Europe, because he knows all the normal exits from England are being monitored. They end up chasing him in a helicopter, and arrive over the cliffs of Dover. Then the airplane explodes over the water, Kendig is presumed dead. But we see that he was actually on land, flying by remote and had set off the explosives. At the very end we see him in a disguise, in a book store, his book "Hopscotch" is a best seller. He is with his girlfriend, whom he had given power of attorney before he disappeared, so they are set to live the good life.