Luke
stu-kicks
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoThe Falcon and the Snowman
January 15th 2007 10:38
The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
'The Falcon and the Snowman' is one of those films that sits calmly between all the other better known films in your local video story, biding it's time, serene in it's apparent mediocrity and lack of legacy... just waiting to be discovered. I'd never even heard of this film before, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I hadn't seen 'Ordinary People' just prior to it. I was so taken by Timothy Hutton's heartfelt and sincere performance in that film that I was amazed he wasn't better known now, and then I spotted 'The Falcon and the Snowman', a film that teamed him with Sean Penn, no less, and I knew it was time to follow up on what Hutton did next.
'The Falcon and the Snowman' is somewhat of a subversive political thriller. It gets away with it's anti-American tone solely due to the fact that it's based on a true story, one of those true stories that are at once both amazing and tragic. Hutton plays Christopher Boyce, a real-life college hotshot who followed in his father's footsteps in working for the American defence department. Once there however he discovers some shocking home truths about the CIA and it's role in other country's affairs (notably the dismissal of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam). Along with his childhood buddy, Daulton Lee (an irresponsible rich kid turned drug dealer), he decides to take matters into his own hands and enters into the Cold War as a freelance agent, selling secrets to the Russians. For Boyce, it's an intellectual rebellion - something quite ahead of it's time in the neo-McCarthyist 70s (but altogether more understandable in this polarised post-9/11 world). For Lee, it's about money and staying away from hard, honest work. It's a partnership doomed from the start.
Directed by John Schlesinger (Marathon Man, Midnight Cowboy), the film benefits from an un-American eye. What could've been a heavily-biased, pro-American tale of treachery is handled evenly and with as much objectivity as possible. Schlesinger is keen to highlight the flaws that brought Boyce and Lee down, and to show Boyce's initially admirable motivations. Above all, Schlesinger is also mindful of history and the film has subsequently dated very little (unlike most other Cold War thrillers) thanks to his neutral treatment of the story's more political aspects, and it's dramatisation of real-life events is more reminiscent of contemporary films like 'Blow' and 'Donnie Brasco', as opposed to made-for-TV slop like 'Not Without My Daughter'.
The real reason to watch this film though is for the amazing performances of Penn and Hutton. A lot of other reviews I've read on this film are keen to point out Penn's early promise of talent here, with his sympathetic, jittery portrayal of a greedy and weak-willed character. I won't say Penn isn't good here, but for me the real star is Hutton. Hutton's performance shows a maturity beyond his years, he has a screen presence and honest intensity that a lot of older actors seldom match. It's an extremely confident performance, and it speaks volumes about Hutton's interesting integrity that he chose to do films like this rather than walk the Tom Cruise-esque path of teen idolism and big budget blockbusters (which he could've easily have done). I've seen Hutton begin to pop up a few more films here and there recently, and I hope he makes a great comeback soon - few other actors deserve it as much as he does.
A really decent film that's worthy of your time.
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