Movie Review: Breach

Starring:
Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Kathleen Quinlan, Dennis Haysbert, Gary Cole, Caroline Dhavernas

Director:
Billy Ray (Shattered Glass)

MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language.

Release Date:
February 2007

Synopsis:
Soon after landing a plum job working for FBI operative Robert Hanssen, Eric O'Neill realizes he's been brought in to spy on his boss, who's suspected of selling secrets to the Soviets. But can O'Neill handle such an important assignment with so little field experience, or will Hanssen get to him first? Based on the true story of the worst security breach in U.S. history.

My Two Cents:
This is a spy movie, but if you’re expecting James Bond-type of action and adventure, you will be greatly disappointed. Breach deals with real life people who put their lives on the line for their country.

Junior FBI employee Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is working hard to go from lame surveillance assignments to full-blown special agent assignments. Although he doesn’t know it, his achievements in surveillance and counterterrorism missions have caught the eye of the FBI director, and he is sent on the most important assignment of his life. He is to spy on Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), a renowned FBI veteran operative who is suspected of being a double-agent, leaking confidential and vital information to the Soviets. Hanssen has been under suspicion for years, but no one has ever found any real evidence to arrest him. He’s responsible for the deaths of at least 50 U.S. agents working covertly in Russia. He’s considered to be the smartest, most dangerous spy ever.

Eric is only told that Hanssen is a sexual deviant at first, and this frustrates him as he wants more important assignments, but he’s slowly let in on the darker side of his new job. Before knowing Hanssen is a traitor to his country, Eric befriends him and even learns to admire and respect him. Hanssen is a former police officer, is loved by his wife and his grandkids, goes to church every single day and has worked 25 years for the FBI. There’s just no way to know he’s really a bad guy.



Hanssen is a human lie detector and is constantly testing Eric, but he somehow avoids detection and actually gains Hanssen’s trust. This, of course, is his downfall. The FBI rig Hanssen’s car with a tracking device and he notices it. That’s when he decides to quit being a double-agent and save his skin, but Eric makes sure he makes one last drop to the Soviets by giving him a speech about him being worthless, and that is when he’s caught.

This was all over the news in 2001, so you know exactly what’s going to happen when watching the film. The movie actually starts with the TV broadcast of Robert Hanssen’s arrest. But I still recommend the movie for Chris Cooper’s outstanding performance, certainly worthy of an Oscar.

There’s nothing wrong with the film, at all, but this is not really my type of thriller as it’s not too exciting. Everyone acted well and the pacing was good. I was entertained the whole 2 hours and this case is so interesting I ended up looking for more information about Hanssen on Wikipedia. It’s all really frightening when you think about it.

Score: