John Schelesinger's career as a film director was extraordinary. We had watched this film when it first came out, but wanted to see it again when it showed on cable recently. The film has a faded look, as one watches it today, but still, it is interesting because of the intense performances of the two principals.

If you haven't seen it, please don't read any further.

Chris and Daulton were two childhood friends that came from upper middle class backgrounds. Chris went to enter a seminary to be a priest, but gives up. Daulton became a small time drug user and trafficker. The two lives seem to run parallel as the pair become involved in an illegal activity that will prove their short sightedness. In fact, it shows how both young men miscalculate in their attempt to fool the CIA and the Soviet Union. These two, in a way, were so naive in thinking they could pull something that bigger, and better equipped people couldn't even imagine could be done.

Chris' motivation is legitimate, as he feels outraged in discovering the underhanded role of the agency for which he works in dealing with other nations, in this case Australia, something he finds by sheer coincidence. When he involves Daulton, we know the whole thing is doomed because no one into drugs, as he is, will ever amount to anything. In fact, Chris and Daulton had no conception of the scope of what they are trying to do, or its consequences.

Timothy Hutton was at this period of his career, an actor that was going places. He had proved he had talent with his work in other films, so it was a natural choice for Mr. Schlesinger to select him, a choice that pays off well. Sean Penn, also was a young actor who showed an intensity, like one hadn't seen before. In fact, at times, Mr. Penn, reminded us of a young Robert Mitchum in the making. Both actors' contribution to the film is incredible. One can't think who could have played this duo but them.

"The Falcon and the Snowman", while not up to the par with other great John Schlesinger's movies, is an interesting look to our not too distant past.

The real ironic part of this story is that Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) never explicitly set out to turn traitor or sell classified information to the Russians. As a disillusioned government surveillance operative, he simply tossed a ball of information to his childhood friend Andrew Daulton Lee (Sean Penn),and told him to run with it. To get whatever he could in the way of remuneration. As enterprising as Lee was, he managed to ingratiate himself into the Russian embassy in Mexico City while on the lam from the U. S., and slowly but surely dug himself a hole he couldn't get out of when the Russkies tightened the screws. The whole thing originated with a fluke cable that Chris read involving American intervention in Australia's politics. If it wasn't sent to the wrong monitoring station in the first place, the entire misadventure would never have occurred. I had to laugh over Lee's choice of an alias on his new driver's license - Theodore Lovelance! Something oddly phallic demonstrating how highly he thought of himself. Chalk it up to youthful naivete, the thrill of danger, and a way to make a quick buck, but how these two bozos expected to get away with it goes way beyond anyone's imagination.

Out of curiosity, I researched the present state of both men. Boyce, who was sentenced to forty years in federal prison, was released after twenty five in 2002. However in January 1980 Boyce escaped from the Lompoc federal penitentiary and went on the run, robbing 17 banks in Idaho and Washington State before being recaptured in August 1981. I guess he wasn't such a good guy underneath that pleasant exterior after all. Daulton Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment, and was released on parole in 1998, marrying the activist who helped him earn his parole.

America in the mid-1970's. Clean-cut preppie Christopher Boyce (an excellent and convincing performance by Timothy Hutton) and his reckless drug dealer best friend Andrew Daulton Lee (superbly played with wired intensity by Sean Penn) get in way over their heads after they decide to sell top secret government information to the Russians.

Director John Schlesinger not only does a masterful job of showing the world of espionage in a fascinatingly mundane and unglamorous manner, but also astutely nails the pervasive cynicism and disillusionment of the United States in the mid-1970's in the wake of the Vietnam war and at the height of the Watergate scandal. Steve Zaillian's smart and incisive script boldly explores such weighty themes as friendship, loyalty, and betrayal. The strong chemistry between Hutton and Penn completely sells Boyce and Lee as lifelong buddies since childhood. Moreover, there are surprising moments of inspired humor throughout, with the scene in which Lee suggests that his Russian contacts help him with a heroin deal rating as a real hoot. The uniformly ace acting from the bang-up cast further keeps this film humming, with especially praiseworthy work from Pat Hingle as Christopher's stern ex-fed father, David Suchet as suave and sardonic Russian agent Alex, Dorian Harewood as bitter, but easygoing Vietnam war veteran Gene, Richard Dysart as Andrew's fed-up dad, Lori Singer as Christopher's sweet girlfriend Lana, Mady Kaplan as sassy coworker Laurie, Jerry Hardin as folksy superior Tony Owens, and Macon McCalmon as stuffy boss Larry Rogers. Michael Ironside has a neat small role as an FBI agent towards the end. An absolute powerhouse.