Little Nikita (1988) is a thriller starring Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix. In the movie, Poitier plays FBI agent Roy Parmenter. Phoenix plays Jeff Grant, a high school student who lives with his parents in San Diego and wants to attend the Air Force Academy.
Here’s the premise: An F.B.I. agent works to discover and uncover if an American family are really Soviet sleeper agents, and gets caught up in friendship with their unaware son.
The tagline for the film is, “He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian Spies.”
The movie provides an opportunity to discuss the FBI’s investigation of a real sleeper cell of Russian “illegals” living in the United States. But first, let’s clear up a few misconceptions portrayed in the movie. In my reviews, I try to focus on providing teachable moments about FBI programs, policies, and procedures. However, Little Nikita’s premise is implausible from the very beginning of the film’s plot, when, while conducting Jeff’s background for the Air Force Academy, Agent Parmenter suspects Jeff’s parents are spies because their birth dates and identities don’t commute.
FBI agents do not conduct background checks on those applying to the Air Force Academy or any of the military colleges.
Of course, there are many reasons someone might want to fake who they are, such as they’re serial killers or fugitives for the law. But Agent Parmenter immediately suspects Jeff’s parents are sleeper agents. I can see why San Diego, with its proximity to Pacific Fleet Surface Navy installations, would be a logical location for a spy to hang out, but the movie never establishes who or what are Jeff’s parents’ targets. I’m left wondering about the intelligence value of the information they gathered about the plant and nursery business to send back to mother Russia? Fortunately, Agent Parmenter’s suspicions about them being sleeper agents are confirmed when a Russian assassin and another spy arrive in town, threatening the Grants with blackmail and death.
Little Nikita was filmed more than 20 years before the FBI revealed its multi-year-long Operation Ghost Stories investigation that targeted “illegals”—intelligence agents operating in the U.S. without diplomatic cover.
For nearly a decade, FBI agents and analysts watched the spies assimilate into American society (some by using false identities). They married, bought homes, raised children, and held jobs—all while working for Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service. The spies collected information to send to Russia. They targeted colleagues and friends, seeking to develop sources in U.S. policymaking circles and also conducted support activities on behalf of Russian intelligence. (Credit FBI Website)
In Operation Ghost Stories, the assignment of the Russian agents during the long-term, “deep-cover” subterfuge was to obtain and report back to the Russian Federation, details regarding US foreign policy in Central America, US military policy issues, and information on the methods the US was using to monitor terrorists activity via the Internet.
I selected Little Nikita for my movie review because of the FBI Retired Case File Review episode with Kurt McKenzie. 336: Russian Birth Tourism, Operation Miami Mama. I kept thinking about the potential threat of some of these children returning to the U.S. as adult and getting high-level positions with our national security and intelligence agencies.
If you know the case agents and analysts who worked on Operation Ghost Stories, please have them contact me.
I’m would love to record an episode about this fully adjudicated FBI espionage investigation.
