Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- matter of fact
- wry
- paranoid
- serious movie night
- true crime viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film’s matter-of-fact true-crime approach, strong lead performances, and detailed depiction of how naïve motives become treason, while finding it less conventionally suspenseful than a routine spy thriller.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Christopher Boyce’s access to sensitive documents and Daulton Lee’s contacts are depicted through practical, matter-of-fact exchanges and increasingly risky routines.
Boyce’s work guarding sensitive documents shatters his faith in his country and helps propel his espionage.
Boyce and Daulton’s scruffy friendship supplies comic friction while their joint spying produces increasingly chilling consequences.
The film traces how inexperience, idealism, greed, and drug involvement lead the friends from minor misconduct toward treason.
Films like The Falcon and the Snowman, and why
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
true-story espionage, political disillusionment, and methodical procedural tension
Breach
grounded Cold War betrayal, moral ambiguity, and human-scale spycraft
The Lives of Others
real-world treason, institutional distrust, and psychologically detailed character drama
Drugstore Cowboy
drug use, criminal escalation, and an odd-couple descent into dangerous wrongdoing
Movie Details
- Director
- John Schlesinger
- Release Date
- 1985-01-25
- Runtime
- 132 min
- Rating
- 6.4 / 10 (184)
Cast
- Timothy Hutton
- Sean Penn
- Pat Hingle
- Joyce Van Patten
- Art Camacho
- Richard Dysart
- Priscilla Pointer
- Chris Makepeace
- Dorian Harewood
- Macon McCalman
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Falcon and the Snowman about?
- Two mismatched childhood friends turn political disillusionment and reckless opportunism into a dangerous Cold War espionage conspiracy.
- What is The Falcon and the Snowman like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Falcon and the Snowman as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Falcon and the Snowman violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Falcon and the Snowman as mild.
- What did critics think of The Falcon and the Snowman?
- Critics broadly praised the film’s matter-of-fact true-crime approach, strong lead performances, and detailed depiction of how naïve motives become treason, while finding it less conventionally suspenseful than a routine spy thriller.
- Which films are like The Falcon and the Snowman?
- Films with a similar feel include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Breach, The Lives of Others, and Drugstore Cowboy.
- How long is The Falcon and the Snowman?
- The Falcon and the Snowman runs 132 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Falcon and the Snowman?
- In United States, The Falcon and the Snowman is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home.
