Breach (Widescreen Edition)

Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe), a young FBI employee who is desperate to become an agent, is assigned to spy on Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), a top FBI agent, family man and devout Catholic, who also happens to have been selling government secrets to the Russians for the past 16 years.

"Breach" is writer/director Billy Ray's second film as director and touches on many of the same themes as his first film, "Shattered Glass" (about fabulist Stephen Glass). Both films are based on the true stories of men whose whole lives were based on falsehoods and both films deal with the downfall and resulting implications of their demise for these men and those around them. Being a huge fan of "Shattered Glass", it came as no surprise to me that I also liked "Breach". In a way, the strong similarities between "Shattered Glass" and "Breach" detracted from "Breach", since I would have liked to see Billy Ray extend himself more. Nevertheless, "Breach" is still a great film.

Although Robert Hanssen was a traitor to his country, instead of portraying him as a man who is purely evil, he is portrayed as a weak man who still has some good features. That is, he is portrayed as a human being, albeit a flawed one, rather than a cardboard cut-out villain. Chris Cooper gives an excellent performance in this role. This isn't the first film I've seen him in (in fact, it's the seventh), but it's the first time that I've really taken any notice of him.

The script of this film is also great, if a little bit by-the-book (its structure follows that given in screenwriting texts to the letter, not that that's a bad thing). When you think about it, a film about one man spying on his boss has the potential to be completely boring. Yet, Ray turns this into a well-written, well-paced thriller with plenty of moments of genuine tension. Several of the scenes in the film seem far too cinematic to be true, which makes me wonder how close this film kept to the fact. Nevertheless, even if this film turns out to be 95% fiction, that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a highly enjoyable movie that will make you think.

BREACH is thrilling even if you know the outcome. Actually knowing the outcome makes it at times more tense and interesting. Waiting for the inevitable can have more an effect than not knowing what's coming. Basically this is one of those rare true life stories that is as weird, if not weirder than Hollywood could make up. FBI agent Robert Hanseen sold government secrets to the Russians for 20 years, making him the biggest traitor in all of U.S. history. Chris Cooper is one of the finest actors working today. Of Robert Hanseen Cooper says he is the most contradicted character he has ever played. After seeing the film you can understand where Cooper is coming from. You might feel Hanseen is the most contradicted person you ever heard of. Robert Hanseen was an ultra-conservative and like many conservative types seemed to be talking out one side of his head while going off and acting in ways that, well, don't quite fit with his professed belief system. To say the least. The DVD includes some useful bonus material. Recommended to the general public, highly recommended to serious film fans and required viewing for fans of spy thrillers.

This movie was not as action-packed as I had thought it would be. I enjoyed the story, but to be quite honest, it came to a close rather abruptly. However, the acting was great!

What do you do with an FBI traitor who for 20 years was feeding serious secrets to the Soviets and then to Russia? If you're the FBI, you don't follow up on tips about the guy, you don't get curious that his expensive life style doesn't match his FBI salary, you ignore his extensive, private hetero kinkiness even though a murmur about homosexuality would get another person booted out the door, and you sure don't want to look too hard and then find a scandal on your hands like the CIA's Aldrich Ames.

It was in 1979, three years after he joined the FBI, that Robert Hanssen started his career as a spy. It wasn't until 1999 that it occurred to the FBI to look closely at Hanssen. At one point, concerned about the possibility of a mole in their midst, the FBI actually had Hanssen investigating any possible moles within the FBI.

Don't look for FBI culpability in Breach. The movie barely alludes to all this, yet this is the real story of Robert Hanssen. What we have, instead, is a genuinely fascinating story of the final hunt to nail Hanssen, the hunt for evidence that would stand up in court. To get that evidence the FBI, finally on the job, sends in Eric O'Neill, a young man without much experience to be Hanssen's gofer. The hope is that Hanssen will not see this fellow as a threat and may let down his guard. If the FBI is going to nail Hanssen, they need to catch him in the act of sending classified information to the Russians. Without this, the best they can do is fire him. It's no spoiler to say that Robert Hanssen was arrested in 2001 and is now serving a life sentence in a high security prison, restricted to solitary confinement 23 hours a day. Eric O'Neill did his job.

That outstanding actor, Chris Cooper, plays Hanssen. It's a magnificent performance, stuffed full with intelligence, arrogance, suspicion, threat and conflict. Hanssen is not a likeable guy, but he's shrewd and smart. The contest between Hanssen's deep suspicions toward anyone and Eric O'Neill's odd combination of apparent naivety and resourceful quick thinking keeps the movie, for the most part, speeding right along. The one real weakness is Laura Linney as O'Neill's boss. It's an unnecessary part and just seems to sit there as a way to feature a star name who can be used now and then for some plot exposition. As much as I like Linney, every time she's on screen I'm reminded that I'm watching a Hollywood movie. That goes for some of the secondary parts, too. The movie needed faces we'd never seen before, except for Cooper. Instead there are too many vaguely familiar Hollywood faces, such as Gary Cole, Dennis Haysbert, and Kathleen Quinlan. They all do good jobs, but their familiarity is distracting.

Ryan Phillippe as Eric O'Neill gives a first-class, nuanced performance. O'Neill is not thrilled with what he's called upon to do. He can't tell anyone, including his wife, and she's not happy with his long and erratic hours. It's a dangerous, high stress job and the man he's trying to catch is no dummy. Phillippe holds his own with Cooper. It's unfortunate that he has one of those youngish, generically handsome faces. He's a good actor, and I think his looks get in the way of critical appreciation of his skills. The movie stands or falls on the actor who plays Hanssen. Chris Cooper is so good and so believable it's a pleasure to sit back and lose yourself in his performance. He's been memorable is so many movies, but one of his best performances (and a favorite of mine) is in Lone Star.

This is a very well made film about a true story of betrayal to one's country and those who work to catch him in the act. I love non-fiction whether it is in book form or films.

Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney are all superb in their roles. The supporting cast does a great job too.

I really enjoyed the special features on the DVD where we meet the real Eric O'Neill and his wife Juliana, along with behind-the-scenes commentary and video.

If you love suspense and great story-telling, I recommend this film. If you think a film drags without car crashes and explosions, I recommend you skip this intelligent movie.