The Falcon and the Snowman

Based on a true story, the film details how two young men sold U.S. secrets to the Soviets in the mid-seventies during the height of American apathy and disillusion.

Taken from the excellent non-fiction book by Robert Lindsey, director John Schlesinger's film does a fine job of creating the feeling and temperament of the time but stumbles in a couple of important areas, though the leads, Timothy Hutton as Christopher Boyce and Sean Penn as Daulton Lee, are in terrific form.

Boyce was the "falcon" as he dabbled in falconry, Daulton the "snowman" due to his dealing cocaine, or snow.

Boyce was the oldest of a large Catholic family whose father was retired FBI. Boyce was given a job too quickly with TRW, at the time working with the CIA on secret projects. Working from the "Black Vault," Boyce eventually decided to sell the information he saw to the Soviets. His drug dealing childhood friend Lee became the courier who transported the data to the Russian Embassy in Mexico.

While the story flows well on screen, the film cannot deliver what the novel makes apparent, namely WHY Boyce became a traitor. Other minor nitpicks include a scene (that never occured in real life) of Boyce seeing his ex-girlfriend Alana before impending arrest added for schmaltz effect only, and a badly edited moment of him ripping apart a gift from his co-workers that leaves the viewer puzzled.

However, everything else is fine. The cast is superb, particularly Pat Hingle as Boyce's father. The look of the film is true to the era it occured in. Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays produced a compelling score, collaborating with David Bowie on the theme song.

This is not an action film, and the better for it. Instead The Falcon And The Snowman gives the viewer psychological insight into espionage. It does not go far enough but is a solidly enjoyable film and deserves your attention.

This has become one of my very favorite films. One reason is that this is when I began to see how really brilliant Sean Penn is, but I think it's more about how this film captures its time, and the dangers of naive idealism. The affluent surburban young men here both find ways to reject the perceived shallowness of their parents, the corruption of their government and the numbing reality of their circumscribed lives, but end up discovering even darker and more painful realities.

Schlesinger makes the most of his excellent cast and gets some of the most memorable performances ever from veterans like Pat Hingle and Richard Dysart. David Suchet is fantastic in his portrayal of a cold, professional KGB operative trying to deal with Sean Penn as a rapidly unravelling drug dealer.

Skip the useless scenes between Tim Hutton and a confused-looking Lori Singer and what remains is a memorable film really worth owning.

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This is the type of character-driven movie you can really get lost in!

This movie is expertly acted and the partnership of Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton literally define "chemistry".

The ONLY part of the movie that didn't ring true, for me, was the Russian connectionthe gentlemen would go from screaming at Sean Penn, quite convincingly, to talking to Timothy Hutton with a not-so-convincing, barely audible low toned voice.

The book had a sequal, and I was hoping the movie would too.

The scenes with Tim Hutton and Pat Hing;e as father and son are especially moving.

As a matter of fact, this movie is so good, you wish it wouldn't end.

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This is one of those movies that made a large impression on me when I was in High School.

It is like "Midnight Express" in that you are supposed to identify with a person who did something very wrong, but gets more than they barginned for in the end.

Timothy Hutton is a somewhat under-rated actor. This film, in my opinion, shows that is one of the better actors of our time.

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The book by the same name allows you to understand a bit more about the characters, but this is a well done film that does bring the story to life. Not all scenes are gripping, but the overall story is thought provoking. Christopher Boyce was either naive or cunning when he began his saga. By the time he went to prison he was simply a well-manipulated informer. The book and this film show that transformation well.

Read the follow-up book, The Flight of the Falcon about Christopher Boyce's escape from prison, and recapture. It would make an even better movie I think. Incidentally, when Daulton Lee got out of prison in 1998, Sean Penn hired him as part of his staff. Christopher Boyce was released a few years ago.