This film never explains the motivation for the behaviour of the protagonist who is the source of secret information being sent to the Soviets. We never understand why he chose to do it. We never understand why he kept doing it, even when he decided he wanted to quit, and it was extremely dangerous to make the last delivery. We never understand why he even revealed his identity to the Soviets, thus enabling them to follow him and possibly blackmail him, or even kill him. We never understand why he chose to conduct this business via his friend who was a drug addict and the least trustworthy person he could possibly find. We never even understand why he didn't try to get away from the police when he became certain that they were on to him. The film is based on a true story, and I understand that they possibly couldn't find answers to all these questions. But they still let the audience down, because we were baffled the whole time. Moreover, the film certainly took all kinds of liberties regarding things they couldn't possibly know with any certainty how they transpired. Thus, we have a film that doesn't answer the important questions, but at the same time gives us an obviously fictional account of what happened. In other words, it is a lie. And a frustrating one.
Review of The Falcon and the Snowman
