base on the true story of two young american who sell national secret to the soviet union in the height of the cold war and falcon and the snowman want to be both suspenseful and philosophical and and wind up fall short in both department . it less le carré than who care . timothy hutton star a christopher boyce and a former seminarian who and disgust by watergate and the middle class value around him and be probably the wrong guy to be hire by a company run spy satellite for the cia . sean penn play his drug deal pal and daulton lee and who make himself boyce courier and deliver secret file to the soviet embassy in mexico city . an offbeat synth jazz score and lack of sympathy or emotional attachment for anyone and and lot of scene of guy get angry in room all combine to deaden what could have a decent moral dilemma thriller . it really penn movie despite the second billing while his character get to talk turkey with the russian while hutton play with his pet falcon . hutton look like they wake him up five minute before they call action . with penn and it a crapshoot whether you get a brilliant performance or an over the top one . here and it a bit of both and but more the latter and especially in the second half when lee switch from coke to heroin . he screech . he snort . he crash russian embassy party . he get pummel with telephone book . he spit at himself in a mirror and a big goober he must have be save for a paparazzo . i do not know who my friend be anymore . he cry out . it exhaust to just watch him . penn seem to have model lee somewhat on dustin hoffman ratso rizzo from midnight cowboy and complete with overly nasal line reading and constant eye shifting . john schlesinger direct this film as well a midnight cowboy and but he seem to have have another hoffman film in mind and the graduate and throw up scene after scene of boyce and lee poolside and try to decide how to live their life in their gilded cage . too bad no one suggest plastic . from the opening shot and news footage of american decline juxtapose with boyce and his bird and falcon make clear it be a message movie and though the message itself be far from clear and probably because the character never come into focus . be boyce suppose to be an idealist . or be he just a mercenary . hutton and schlesinger do not seem to know and which make it hard for u . meanwhile and opportunity to establish some suspense and like boyce steal document from the top secret black vault where he work or lee play game with the russian and be interrupt by jump cut to scene of the pair with their family and friend . it the normalcy of the story that schlesinger find interesting and but it the least interesting aspect for u . good stuff represent it interest to see a film that work the 1970s vibe so early a this one and reference maria muldaur and tang . dorian harewood and memorable in full metal jacket and have a nice turn a boyce paranoid colleague gene and who show boyce how to make margarita with a shredder but have some serious nam issue beneath his party exterior . macon mccalman be also fine in a totally different way a the no nonsense bos who give boyce his high security job . david suchet a the russian embassy official who deal with lee make for a fascinating blend of menace and amiability . but falcon and the snowman stand or fall on the the question of the two title character and and neither the actor nor schlesinger be able to mine much in the way of answer . bad and after more than two hour in their alternately feral and catatonic company and you do not really want answer . you just want those credit to roll .