take a young liberal idealist christopher boyce ( timothy hutton ) put in a top secret classification in a government front company because of his father position team him up with a nocount drug dealer daulton lee ( sean penn ) who be want by the police and need a new source of income and you have a recipe for espionage . sean penn play the part of the punk drug dealer with a certain sang froid probably out of particular verisimilitude with such raunchy type . the gall penn carry with him in every situation be unique while he even suggest the soviet run drug for him . i have see the movie over and over again and each time i see something new . it seem to me that a major problem with u spy organization be it inbreeding which lead to the hiring of an obviously unsuitable candidate by reason of temperament and inclination for a government front company . i do recall when the falconeer escape from prison and lead the authority on a wild goose chase . i see that despite the escape he be now release . a pity the soviet be no longer around to accept the wretch . a cheery cherio .