The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Robert Lindsey (book)
Steven Zaillian (writer)

Release Date:

25 January 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

They came from the best of families...They became the two most dangerous political criminals in the world. [Australia Video]

Plot:

The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Walk In Spy | Childhood Friend | Drugs | Heroin

Cast

Timothy Hutton	...	Christopher Boyce
Sean Penn	...	Daulton Lee
Pat Hingle	...	Mr. Charlie Boyce
Joyce Van Patten	...	Mrs. Boyce
Rob Reed	...	Boyce Child
Rob Newell	...	Boyce Child
Karen West	...	Boyce Child
Art Camacho	...	Boyce Child
Annie Kozuch	...	Boyce Child
Richard Dysart	...	Dr. Lee
Priscilla Pointer	...	Mrs. Lee
Chris Makepeace	...	David Lee
Dorian Harewood	...	Gene
Mady Kaplan	...	Laurie
Macon McCalman	...	Larry Rogers

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:R (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hemdale Film

Trivia:

The company that Christopher Boyce worked for in real life was TRW, portrayed as "RTX" in the movie.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the border crossing, "Snowman's" Mustang has the license plate "213-IMW" but on the computer terminal in the field marked "plate number" the U.S. border guard enters "NRQ410" (echoed back on the screen as "NNRRQQ441100") which is clearly the wrong plate. NRQ could stand for "NARCOTICS" as sort of an in joke by the producers.

Quotes:

Daulton Lee: Let me ask you now. These, these clothing. Would this be considered formal clothing for your country? Is this the average garb?
Nigerian diplomat: It's, er, garbage.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bully (2001)

Soundtrack:

PICK UP THE PIECES

Dark, disturbing, and outstanding

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.