Movie Review: Breach

Breach (2007) 

Directed by Billy Ray

Written by Adam Mazer 

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

Release Date February 16th, 2007 

Published February 17th, 2007

Robert Hanssen was America's leading expert in Russian counter-intelligence. When communism fell it was because of guys like Hanssen whose fluency in how the Russians conducted intelligence and counterintelligence helped topple Moscow. So how does a man so proud and outwardly patriotic become the greatest traitor since Benedict Arnold? That is one of two stories that unfold in the new movie Breach from director Billy Ray the young auteur behind Shattered Glass.

When agent Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) was assigned to be the assistant to veteran agent Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) he was told that this could be his opportunity to earn his way into becoming a full fledged agent. It was not because Hanssen was a 30 plus year veteran whose experience would be a great learning experience for O'Neill. Rather, this was a test of the young agents spy mettle.

Eric was chosen to watch over Hanssen whom he is told is a sexual deviant and thus susceptible to blackmail by foreign agents. Choosing a more veteran agent to watch Hanssen would arouse suspicion, so it's up to the. Little did Eric know, there was far more to this new detail than just sexual deviancy. He has actually been dropped right into the middle of the biggest internal FBI scandal in history.

Breach directed by Bill Ray, the man behind the Stephen Glass expose Shattered Glass, is a brisk exciting drama that tells the story of Robert Hanssen with an icy, quicksilver pacing that never rushes but never pauses too long either. The spycraft is formal and by the book, made exciting by the hard work of the actors and the terrific staging.

Chris Cooper shows once again why he is the preeminent character actor in the business. His Robert Hanssen is a constipated family man who is constantly fed up with just about everything. Everyone around him is regarded as a fool and he does not suffer fools kindly. The explanation for his treachery may just be an overall frustration with the people around him. He wants the system to conform to his idea of efficiency and when it doesn't he decides to goose the system by subverting it.

Ryan Phillippe continues to choose smart roles. His career track started as that of a teen idol after 1999's Cruel Intentions. Thankfully, brooding, handsome type was not the career he wanted and while his choices, from the cool underappreciated Way of the Gun to Antitrust to Crash, have been spotty, he has been good even in his most off-kilter role.

In Breach Phillippe plays a naive worker bee very well and his character grows up quickly. Initially all confusion and ambition his Eric O'Neill toughens up quickly and is able to use his naivete as a perfect wedge against the always suspicious Hanssen.

Breach is a breathtaking, fast paced story, exceptionally well told by director Billy Ray. There is not an ounce of fat on this story, every detail, from Hanssen's religious convictions to O'Neill's relationship with his wife played by the wonderful Catherine Davernas, it all pays off in a way. The crisp, efficient storytelling is aided by exceptional performances by Phillippe and Cooper and an extraordinary group of supporting players.

Laura Linney, Gary Cole and Dennis Haysbert bring expert skill to the roles of Hanssen's investigators. Linney is especially good as the strong willed lead investigator Kate Burroughs who made the tough call to put the kid O'Neill in with the veteran Hanssen. Icy and workmanlike, Burroughs hard nosed investigation was going on for two years before she brought in O'Neill as a last ditch effort to catch Hanssen in the act.

The person in charge of capturing the suspected mole before Hanssen was identified? Hanssen himself, something Burroughs is very aware of.

Taut, invigorating storytelling, Breach is the kind of thriller that excites with dazzling intellectual storytelling. Director Billy Ray may not be much of a visual stylist but he more than makes up for it with his ear for smart dialogue and his instinct for telling his story in a compact, quick witted way. The pace of the storytelling never outdoing the development of the characters, Breach unfolds the greatest failure in American intelligence history in the most entertaining way imaginable.