The Falcon and the Snowman

The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce (played by Timothy Hutton) and Daulton Lee (played by Sean Penn), who sold U.S. security secrets to the Soviet Union. The film is based upon the 1979 book The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage by Robert Lindsey, and features the song "This Is Not America", written and performed by David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group.

Plot synopsis

The Falcon and the Snowman is based on the true story of former altar boy and former Catholic seminary student Christopher Boyce and fellow former altar boy turned drug dealer Andrew Daulton Lee, two young men from wealthy California families who sold classified government information to the Soviet Union during the mid 1970s.

Boyce, an expert in the sport of falconry-- thus, the nickname "Falcon"-- gets a job at a civilian defense contractor (TRW, though it is called "RTX" in the movie) working in the so-called "Black Vault", a secure communication facility through which flows information on some of the most classified U.S. operations in the world. Boyce becomes disillusioned with the U.S. government through his new position, especially after reading a misrouted communiqué dealing with the CIA's plan to depose the Prime Minister of Australia. Frustrated by this duplicity, Boyce decides to repay his government by passing classified secrets to the Soviets. ...
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