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The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
9/04, 10/25
10/25:
A lot of times, a film says at the beginning this is a true story and then never lives up to the promise.
That's not so for The Falcon and the Snowman. Just about everything matches up, which is hard to
believe, because how it happened doesn't feel substantial enough. Why the Russians' assumption of Christopher
Boyce being black? It's because of the history of persecution and discrimination his race had suffered in
the United States. As for the adaptation of Robert Lindsey's book, it was done by Steven Zaillian, his first
ever, who would go on to win the Oscar for Schindler's List.
The defense contractor firm that Boyce stole military secrets from is TRW, not RTX. What's not revealed in
the film is he escaped from prison in 1980, thanks to watching
Escape from Alcatraz during his confinement, and committed 17 bank
robberies for almost two years. Shockingly, Boyce served approximately 24 years in total instead of 40 that
was stretched to 68 afterwards. Daulton Lee, originally sentenced to life, got out in 21 years.
Timothy Hutton and Sean Pean are perfect. Unfortunately, the former doesn't have much of room to
make a huge impression, allowing the latter to steal the film. I wonder if Sean Penn copied Eric
Roberts' performance in Star 80 given the great deal of similarities. Despite
not crying on screen, he was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and would have to wait
ten years to get it finally for Dead Man Walking.
All in all, The Falcon and the Snowman is a well-made espionage picture with Sean Penn at his best.