User Reviews

In the movie, "The Falcon and the Snowman", when they were showing Christopher Boyce around the complex, the satellite in the background was the actual Ryholite satellite that is now in space. TRW allowed interior shots. TRW also allowed both interior and exterior shots for one of the original Star Trek TV series. (The episode is the one where Spock goes blind when a string of satellite lights are activated to kill the aliens). Christopher escaped jail (Lompock) and was featured on America's Most Wanted. He was drinking in a bar when the show aired. He said, "Hey, that's me". Needless to say, he was captured and transfered to a maximum security jail.

Excellent drama about 2 alienated, spoiled punks who go afoul of the federal government, each for his own reasons. One, a druggie, just wants to score some bucks for his next fix, but the other has a far more sinister agenda fueled in part by a resentment of his father. Good performances and a hot script makes this a winner.

Based on a true story, Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) quits the seminary, and fall into a menial job at a military contractor. He has father issues and angry at US foreign policies. He, along with his drug dealing criminal friend Daulton Lee (Sean Penn), sold secret communications to the Soviet Union.

Sean Penn is great at playing low life sleazebag. He is at his jittery best here. His is the juicier part. Timothy Hutton does a good all America guy. I wish he had more depth and something more sinister to his character. He doesn't have enough to explain his motive. There has to be a more compelling character in there. But in the movie, Sean Penn is overshadowing Timothy Hutton. I don't think Hutton got enough of the character.

I was too young in 1985 to appreciate a movie like this, but I watched it recently and thought it was quite an achievement. Everything about it hit the mark, without anything cheap or exploitive. The Snowman was a hilarious character for all his contradictions and brassiness.

The movie nicely recalls the cold war, when the Soviets were busy beavers trying to infiltrate governments and media institutions. The Falcon is shocked to learn the United States is using the CIA to block the Communist threat, and decides to become a traitor to his own country.

In too many films today, the writer loves one side and hates the other, so you get a dishonest film. In this film, the writer doesn't portray any of the characters as anything other than humans with their own beliefs, goals and foibles. That I find truly refreshing.

The movie is mostly accurate, from what I have read of the real event. There are a few notable exceptions where truth diverges from the movie, however. After quitting TRW, Christopher Boyce (AKA the Falcon) planned to learn Russian and earning a political major, and then returning to espionage for the Russians (the movie says the opposite). It makes you wonder how far he would have gotten, and how many other Christopher Boyce's there were during the cold war. In real life, Boyce and his lawyer tried to blame *everything* on the Andrew Lee (the Snowman), even saying Lee forced him into it. The Falcon escaped prison for an 18 month period before being recaptured. He was released from prison in 2003. Andrew Lee was paroled in 1998.

Set in the years of the Nixon/Ford administration, The Falcon And The Snowman is the story of a young man who wildly went off the track in his idealism and winds up a traitor. The idealist is the falcon part of the title and the young man who works for the Central Intelligence Agency and discovers that were doing some dirty tricks in the countries that are supposed to be allies is played by Timothy Hutton.

Hutton is as shocked as Claude Rains was to discover that gambling was going on at Rick's. After all it was father Pat Hingle who got him the job at CIA through his connections with the FBI. That he had no inkling that anything like this was going on is a bit much. But Hutton is actually shown the proper path. Do a Daniel Ellsberg and get it to the media. Instead he turns traitor and decides to sell secrets to the Soviet Union.

But this genius decides to go into partnership with an old childhood friend who's become a drug dealer to support his high living lifestyle, no pun intended. That's the snowman of the title and when he's on the screen, Sean Penn dominates the film. Hutton needs someone who knows the criminal ways, tutoring in those ways, and subterfuge if needed. Of course Penn knows that, but anyone with a brain has to realize that Penn's cocaine habit would sink them.

The ironic thing is that this is a true story otherwise no one would believe it. And then Hutton goes through another Rains like moment when he discovers the Russians can be as dirty as us, dirtier. The second best performance in the film is the BBC's Hercule Poirot, David Suchet. In playing Poirot for the BBC series, Suchet has reached the culmination of a career like J. Carrol Naish back in the days of the studio system playing an incredible variety of ethnic types. He even more reminds of another man who did the same, Herbert Lom. Had this been made 20 years earlier, I could have seen Lom very easily in the role of the exasperated Russian agent who is really losing his patience dealing with fools.

The Falcon And The Snowman boasts some really good performances, but in the end the general unlikeability of the leads makes you really want to hit these two upside the head with two by four.

If I didn't knew that this movie is based on real story I wouldn't probably believe in it. I would say that this is some barely believable fiction. Ironically this is a true story. Of course since this is a movie some things were probably changed for the dramatic purposes , yet the main core of the story is true.

The main problem is with the unlikable heroes. I'm sorry , but Hutton's decision seems to be made from stupidity. Was he really that naive ? Didn't he understood that politics is a dirty game where everyone is spying and manipulating the others ? Never was and never will be fair game ? That not only USA , but other countries aren't saints in any way ? That he was betraying his own country ? If he wanted to make change he should go to press. His intentions maybe were good , but in the end he only endangered his own country. And asking for help someone as irresponsible as a drug addict… He should know that this would end really bad.

The movie sticks to the vision of Hutton's character being a really idealistic crusader and Penn being an sympathetic moron. I did care about them when things started to go really bad for them – the paranoia attacks , the fear , the sense of hopeless , the danger of losing your life. Schlesinger does show a great directing skills from time to time. The scene where gun appears on the table and the doors are locked , searching for the bugs inside the bird , the brutal interrogation in Mexico , the sad end for both of our heroes. There are also some funny scenes here , mostly involving Penn's character . The scene when he proposes a drug deal to Russians really tells you how f***ed up he is.

The music by Pat Metheny is good , even if it's mostly one and the same theme appearing through the whole movie. The song "This is not America" by David Bowie and Pat Metheny is great and was quite a hit back in the 80's.

Sean Penn is great as the drug addict . He really acts like drugs are the only thing he thinks about. His whiny voice , loose attitude and big mouth make him a memorable character. The Oscar nominee would do him justice. He dominates the screen.

Timothy Hutton is great too , giving a depth to his character. He's lost , noble and honest character who lost his way. When he tells near the end of the movie why he did it I really believed him. Disliked him, but still believed him. He was able to make an cliché character real.

There is a solid support by veteran actor Pat Hingle ("Batman") as Hutton's father , Lori Singer ("Footloose") as Hutton's girlfriend and especially from David Suchet (TV series "Poirot") as the Russian spy.

"The Falcon and snowman" is long (2 hours) , yet never boring movie . It's an interesting document about real life story with some nice moments in it. It's not a great movie by any way , because it's too shallow and one sided drama , yet it's entertaining enough to give it a chance. I give it 6/10.

Fascinating true-life tale stars Timothy Hutton as Christopher Boyce, a government employee in charge of guarding sensitive documents, who becomes disillusioned and decides to sell those documents to the Soviets. He enlists the help of his drug pusher/user friend Daulton Lee(Sean Penn) to be the go-between. Things go well at first, but of course they are eventually discovered, which leads to devastating consequences for them and their families.

Well directed by John Schlesinger, and solid acting from the two leads, film is a quite interesting and compelling look at the foolish choices these two men make(and why), which makes them traitors. Future "Poirot" star David Suchet is excellent as their Soviet contact.

Disillusioned with Nixon, Vietnam, Watergate, and Australia (huh?), alter boys Timothy Hutton (as Christopher Boyce) and Sean Penn (as Andrew Daulton Lee) become professional criminals, after growing up wealthy in sunny southern California. Pet "Falcon" owner Mr. Hutton abandons plans to become a priest, "and the Snowman" Mr. Penn switches from snorting cocaine to heroin; together, they sell CIA secrets to the KGB. Alas, the lads learn spying is a very dangerous business…

Despite being based on a true story, and featuring admirable performances, "The Falcon and the Snowman" doesn't get very high. Hutton and Penn do not really seem to be close friends, although we are told so; and their relationships with others - like both sets of family, and Lori Singer (as Lana) - ring strangely untrue. Only Russian contact David Suchet (as Alex) seems truly genuine. Simply, the script is too mysterious with motivation, and opportunities to blend characterizations are missed.

****** The Falcon and the Snowman (1/25/85) John Schlesinger ~ Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, David Suchet, Lori Singer

A considerable amount of talent...director John Schlesinger, screenwriter Steve Zaillian, and actors Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton, and David Suchet...is engaged in the morally dubious and ultimately futile attempt to make this viewer care about two entitled, dopey creeps named Boyce and Lee. Thus, about halfway through this rather lengthy, empty film, I began to experience the sour, heavy feel of time wasted and by the end, as I suspected would be the case, was most unmoved. Give it a generous C plus because of Penn's ability to portray an abject worm and Suchet's combination of suavity and sleaze as the Russian embassy official in Mexico.

There is something about true stories that makes them so much more interesting than fiction. I guess it is the fact that truth has always been stranger than fiction. The Falcon and the Snowman tells the true story about Christopher Boyce and his buddy Daulton Lee. Boyce (Hutton) is a former alter boy and intellectual, trying to find an occupation that can support and entertain him. His FBI father is able to pull some strings and get his idealist son a job working in the defense department. Boyce has few responsibilities and seems to be complacent drinking and goofing around with his co-workers. However, as time goes on, Boyce starts to learn top secret information that causes him to doubt the morality of his government. The idealist Boyce soon sees the illegal operations that the CIA is carrying out in above all places, Australia. Boyce eventually decides that he will leak some of the top secret info he is privy to, to the KGB. Of course, Boyce's mistake is the assumption that because the USA is doing bad things, the USSR is the good guy. Over time, Boyce and his drug-dealing buddy Lee (Penn), start to sell their top secret information to the KGB. What was once idealism, turns into capitalism and espionage. The strength of this movie is the incredible performances by Hutton and Penn. Although one of them starts off with the best intentions, they will both soon find themselves in an unending downward spiral. Great direction, music, everything. Not only a great film, but one of my all-time favorites.

I am not a fan of Sean Penn, but in contrast to my German colleague whose review appears here, I think he was perfectly cast as the neurotic, druggy character in this film. He has every nuance perfected and reminded me of several acquaintances who had similar tastes in "recreational chemistry." I saw this film but once, 10-15 years ago and this is the only part of the film that was etched indelibly on my mind. I don't say it very often, but in this case I will: Bravo, Sean Penn! As for the story line, well, it's based on fact, and as such, it is a tragedy that people would sell their country's secrets to the then enemy. Again, Penn has shown what you can do if you disagree with the administration. Use the freedoms you have, paid for in blood; don't break the law.

For the 1980s, this is a very dark movie. At this point, filmmakers were beginning to operate under the assumption that all films require smarmy comic relief (which, of course, is taken to the extreme today), flashy action scenes (even more overdone today), or steamy sex scenes.

Hutton and Penn are stupendous in their roles as childhood friends turned Soviet spies. Penn in particular is brilliant as hapless drug dealer Daulton Lee.

What you have here is a true thriller/drama. There is no eye candy to speak of, but the story is so compelling and the acting so superb that (hopefully) most people wouldn't miss it. There are a couple amusing scenes, in particular the one where Penn tries to get his Soviet benefactors involved in a major drugrunning deal.

Well worth watching.

This film never explains the motivation for the behaviour of the protagonist who is the source of secret information being sent to the Soviets. We never understand why he chose to do it. We never understand why he kept doing it, even when he decided he wanted to quit, and it was extremely dangerous to make the last delivery. We never understand why he even revealed his identity to the Soviets, thus enabling them to follow him and possibly blackmail him, or even kill him. We never understand why he chose to conduct this business via his friend who was a drug addict and the least trustworthy person he could possibly find. We never even understand why he didn't try to get away from the police when he became certain that they were on to him. The film is based on a true story, and I understand that they possibly couldn't find answers to all these questions. But they still let the audience down, because we were baffled the whole time. Moreover, the film certainly took all kinds of liberties regarding things they couldn't possibly know with any certainty how they transpired. Thus, we have a film that doesn't answer the important questions, but at the same time gives us an obviously fictional account of what happened. In other words, it is a lie. And a frustrating one.

I think some critic somewhere said this film fell short of being a great film, but was a very good one. That's accurate, you are left wanting to know more. The best performance comes from David Suchet as a sardonic and frequently supercilious Russian. The film commendably avoids trying to make us empaphise with traitors and even manages some humour in all the madness. In one blink or you'll miss it scene, Daulton infiltrates an embassy function where he speaks to a foreign diplomat. "Is this the usual garb of your countrymen?" He asks. "Yes, it's garbage" the man replies.

The film appears open minded about whether Boyce is an idealist or an opportunist who fails to realise the significance of his actions. His confession of having received payment from the Soviets and his cynical dismissing of money as 'never being very important to me' suggests a more amoral stance, but his other remarks perhaps reveal a more complex and sincere character. Boyce seems to be suggesting that any leap forward in technology must also go hand in hand with an equal quantitative one in morality. But I think it was Einstien who said that the bomb has changed everything except the way man thinks. This suggests that Boyce's weary indifference while being interviewed was due to his realisation that this moral leap was beyond man and therefore there was no hope, we are doomed to extinction. All political and religious life had been rendered meaningless to him due to the impermanence of man in the face of super-technology. This may account for his reluctance to recite the 'valley of death' speech to his father, as he knew full well that it's message was also meaningless in the context of modern warfare. No-one, not even the generals would be left standing. Boyce then, was possibly suffering a certain existential despair, as he stated America was the first country to use nuclear weapons. His concern that his betrayal meant little because we are already in jeopardy is even more pertinent today, with more and more countries either acquiring or seeking to acquire nuclear technology. It's rather like a group of toddlers playing with a grenade, passing it around. Say you were to add more grenades, would you then increase the likelihood of an accident such as the pulling out of a pin?

This rare political film asks a more broad and philosophical question, perhaps. If Boyce says he knows something about predatory behaviour (and the film is full of big fish eating little fish motifs) and left the church because he has decided that man is not divine and just another animal, where does that leave man if he cannot ultimately change his nature? The film does not leave you with an answer, merely the fear on the faces of uncomprehending parents and the unseen spectre of a mushroom cloud.

The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee (Timothy Hutton) and his drug pusher childhood friend (Sean Penn with amazing hair) who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.

Roger Ebert gave it a perfect four-star rating, citing one of the many strengths as that "it succeeds, in an admirably matter-of-fact way, in showing us exactly how these two young men got in way over their heads. This is a movie about spies, but it is not a thriller in any routine sense of the word. It's just the meticulously observant record of how naiveté, inexperience, misplaced idealism and greed led to one of the most peculiar cases of treason in American history." I give this film a solid rating because of Sean Penn's hair. This was before he had really broken out into a highly-respected actor. (Now that I think about it, where did he go?) He makes the story fun with his character, and whether or not his portrayal is accurate matters very little because it is still fun no matter what.

Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) is an expert in falconry that gets a job as a civilian defense contractor in the Black Vault. Since he is disillusioned with the US government, he decides to repay his government passing US secrets to Soviets. Andrew Daulton Lee (Sean Penn) is a drug addict and cocaine smuggler nicknamed 'the Snowman', who has frustrated and alienated his family. He decides to work with the KGB agents along with Boyce, motivated by the hope of moving from the US to Costa Rica, where there aren't extradiction laws. Unfortunately nearly everything will go downfall because of Lee's drug addiction and periods of irrationality, and also because Boyce wants to return in the US for returning to college and stay with his girlfriend. How this will unfold? See the rest.

Penn and Hutton (who already co-starred in the very good TAPS) have lots of chemistry together and their moments together were probably the best thing of the movie (along with David Bowie's song THIS IS NOT AMERICA). But the spying game and all the manuevers were sometimes confusing and muddled the plot unnecessarily.

Not a bad movie, but if you are into spy movies with common people acting undercover, this is for you.

This cold war character study is dependent on the two lead performances and both are up to the task. The middle-class buddies go from suburbia to spying in a heartbeat and neither have the intellect to see their consequences or for that matter care too much about such things.

Even when events go terribly wrong the web is too strong and resistance is futile. They are caught up in an espionage game that is over their heads and they are drowning in denial, ignorance, and the inevitable.

It is a movie that has one character (Sean Penn) who is completely delusional and drug dependent and the other (Timothy Hutton) who is noble, and is naive and frustrated at abuse of power and tries, though unadvisedly, to use his low level CIA access to get back at the patriotic fascists who, among other non-National Security issue dealings, use the Government to topple left-wing elected officials in third world countries.

This is all done in a matter of fact Directorial style that relies on behavior more than motivation. Both are not loyal, even to their families who seem to care about them. The film comes off a bit vague, on the surface, and very shallow, but the best part is the volatile interaction between the professional Soviet Spies and the buffoonish drug addled courier.

"The Falcon and the Snowman" is the story of two young men, a CIA employee and a drug dealer, who become disenchanted with United States foreign policy and sell state secrets to the Soviet Union. The events of the film are based on a true story.

Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn are convincing in the lead parts and develop interesting characterizations. The supporting cast also performs well, notably with a performance from David Suchet of Hercule Poirot fame as a seasoned Soviet agent.

The film is generally effective at setting out its premise and developing it and giving a sense of two boys caught in something they did not properly understand going in. However, it does seem overlong and cumbersome at points in the middle. The ending, however, is tense, stunning and effective. There are some catchy rock songs included in the soundtrack, but also unfortunately a repeated mellow synthesizer track that doesn't fit with a spy story. There are other spy films more worth seeking out than "The Falcon and the Snowman", but it is a decent film none the less.

Directed by John Schlesinger. Starring Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, David Suchet, Pat Hingle, Richard Dysart, Joyce Van Patten, Priscilla Pointer, Dorian Harewood, Lori Singer, George C. Grant, Mady Kaplan, Jerry Hardin, Boris Lyoskin, Chris Makepeace. (R)

Good spy drama, based on a true story, about two young men (Hutton, Penn) from prosperous families who decide to sell US government secrets to the Soviets and get in over their head. More a character study than intricately-plotted espionage thriller, strong lead performances carry the film; their relationship, and the way it evolves over the course of the story, is the most successful element. Less effective are the fractious parental disagreements and Hutton's weak romance with Singer in a thankless, undeveloped role. The film also never makes a convincing case for why Hutton would get involved in the scheme--simply not liking that his own country is involved in shady practices is quite the leap to treason. Screenplay by Steven Zaillian (the first of his to be made into a movie), based on the book by Robert Lindsey. Soundtrack includes underappreciated gem "This Is Not America" by David Bowie/Pat Metheny Group. Michael Ironside has a brief role as an FBI agent.

71/100

If you're interested in learning about the 'real' side of spying, this movie is for you. Unlike 007 movies, this shows how things really go down in the world of espionage. Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn both give outstanding performances in this not-so-well-known film. Certainly worth watching.

This movie is very good in term of acting and plot. The events and the setting (i.e. how Chris gets the job, Chris's work environment, the face-to-face between the two sides, etc) thereof, on the other hand, are found to be less than realistic.

Set in the 1970s Los Angeles, Christopher Boyce has just dropped out of seminary school and returned back home were his father gets him a job where he monitors intelligence documents. His old friend Daulton Lee is a ratty cock drug-dealer, and gets caught in a set-up and must choose between becoming a narc or facing a long stint in prison. When up on bail, he jumps and heads to Mexico City. Chris offers Lee in a partnership to be his messenger to sell secret papers to the Soviet Union embassy in Mexico City, because of the disgrace he feels about the US Government's control over weaker countries to their own gain. But over time the two begin to clash with their motivations and find themselves in something bigger then they had originally intended.

Director John Schlesinger has spun out such films like the respectable "Midnight Cowboy", "Marathon Man", "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Day of The Locust". While "The Falcon and the Snowman" might not be held up that high, there's no question that this sombre espionage drama (inspired by a true incident) is an unjustly overlooked character portrait. Everything about it, is quite a subdued affair with no real grandeur qualities hitting a massive mark. The driving factor of the film has got to be the admirably versatile lead performances of Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn as the two ambitious young lads Chris and Daulton. Penn is especially good with his uneasy intensity, which works well off Hutton's superbly cool-and-collected turn. What starts off as easy, we watch the situation gradually crumble, as the two amateurs find themselves really out of their league. The strongly detailed and symbolic (predatory behaviour) plot mainly centres on the pair's relationship and that of their reasoning's for their actions, which eventually shows us the knotty developments that led to their downfall. The plan opens up like a wound to never properly heal, due to Daulton's drug addiction, which really makes him go off the rails and leaves Chris to pick up all the slack. The searing political aspect is there, but it focus on the themes of idealism (Boyce) and greed (Lee) to get its point across. Both don't mix and results show. Suspense is justified through its stimulating pot-boiling script and character interactions then that of any visual gimmicks. Action is very little, but still there's a pressure induced style to Schlesinger's assured and realistically dark 'n' gritty direction. Pacing is mostly well handled, although some sequences do seem to wallow on for too long, but however it grips you as it plays on its authentically paranoid tone to slowly build up to an exploding tight latter end. Adeptly fleshed into the technical production is an airily harrowing music score and professionally poignant cinematography. The supporting cast are exceptionally fine with Pat Hingle, Lori Singer, David Suchet, Boris Leskin, Jerry Hardin and Joyce Van Patten. Also look out for Michael Ironside in a tiny part as a FBI agent.

A mostly outstanding spy-film that benefits largely from talented lead performances and by not playing the usual stakes. It's more an emotional ride, then a complex one of twists. Recommended.

Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn (reunited from 1981's "Taps) give mismatched performances in this factual account of two privileged young men in the 1970s who sold classified government information to the Soviet Union. Director John Schlesinger doesn't seem to know what to do with icy, immobile Hutton, whose Christopher Boyce never develops quirks or an edge we can respond to. Boyce, working as a civilian defense contractor, is supposed to be disillusioned with the United States government, but we don't understand his turn to duplicity, and Hutton isn't able to communicate the character's frustration. Penn, on the other hand, emotes all over the place as Daulton Lee, a druggie who becomes Boyce's contact with the KGB strictly on mercenary terms. These two should be quite a pair, but there's no acting spark between the stars--they could be performing in two different movies. Screenwriter Steven Zaillian, adapting Robert Lindsey's book, keeps Penn's character prattling on and on, breaking down at one point in dry-eyed torment, and yet the devils haunting these men are not made vivid enough or scary to us. As a result, there's a great deal of arduous acting in "The Falcon and the Snowman" that amounts to little more than annoying static--a poor substitute for suspense or substantial character portraits. *1/2 from ****