BREACH
In the Ultimate Spy Game, Agent Hanssen to FBI: Catch Me If You Can (I'll Give
You A Head Start)
PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "Breach"
By Omar P.L. Moore/February 16, 2007
Chris Cooper as Robert Hanssen, an American-born Russian spy who for 25 years
was a decorated FBI Agent before finally being caught, in "Breach", the new film
directed by Billy Ray, which opens across the United States and Canada today in
theaters. (All photos: Michael Gibson/Universal Pictures)
Chris Cooper stars as Robert Hanssen, a 25-year-FBI agent
decorated with honors -- and whom for most of that distinguished career was
spying for the Russians and compromising American national security in what was
termed as the greatest breach of security in U.S. history. Director Billy
Ray chronicles this true story in "Breach", which opens today in the U.S. and
Canada and is released by Universal Pictures.
Cooper spends the movie wearing a snarl of barely veiled contempt as Hanssen, a
man who at times appears to be begging to be caught by the Federal Bureau of
Investigations, the U.S. governmental agency that he is head and shoulders
above, in a spy program that he created. There are several points at which
he tells FBI agent trainee Eric O'Neill (played by Ryan Phillippe) that the
Bureau isn't smart enough and needs to do different things to get tougher on
spies. It seems that Hanssen is infuriated by how easy it has been for him
to fool everyone at the Bureau where he had worked for so long.
Luckily for the FBI however, its top brass wasn't such an easy pushover in
reality (and neither is it in the film.) Chief Investigating Agent Kate
Burroughs (Laura Linney) sends O'Neill to keep close tabs on Hanssen and monitor
his every move. O'Neill develops an admiration for Hanssen's extensive
knowledge, but the facts about the veteran agent embellish a complete picture
adversely at odds with his church-going, faith-centered exterior.
The cat-and-mouse exploits of "Breach", a quiet, clean-cut, no-frills story directed in
compact, economical fashion by Mr. Ray, works very well for the 110 minutes of
screen time it enjoys, providing compelling suspense. A lot of that
suspense is due to the great acting of Mr. Cooper. With one exception, we
are never truly certain whether Hanssen suspects O'Neill has been tracking him
all along, or whether he knows and just leaves it alone, or whether he knows and
is waiting to see if O'Neill, whose abilities he constantly derides, is smart
enough to bring him down and bring him in. One thing we do know is that
Hanssen knows he is on borrowed time.
Laura Linney as Agent Kate Burroughs in Billy Ray's new film "Breach".
"Breach" is about the downfall of both security and the security of a spy's own
visage. Mr. Hanssen's supreme confidence in his own proficiency came
crashing down on him, even as he obviously knew the FBI was in hot pursuit.
There are several scenes in which Hanssen talks about being in a powerful
position on the spy surveillance tactical unit. He talks about it with such
disdain that he looks dismayed and irritated that the United States, the country with the most detailed
and vast surveillance facilities in the world, was inept enough to take as long
as it did to catch him (February 2001) to be precise. Mr. Cooper portrays
the anguish of a lonely man so well. Hanssen is choked by his double life
and he is looking for a way out of the lie that he is living as much as the FBI
is looking to catch him in the act of spying or receiving secrets or materiel.
The film is also about secrets and lies -- not only those that threaten the
security of a nation, but one that also threatens the security (or sanctity) of
a marriage. Sometimes protecting a nation comes at a heavy price that
involves a double-edged sword (also see "The Good Shepherd".) One might
ask, is such a heavy price (working on the Hanssen case) for such a long time
worth it all? If all you are "is what [you're] going after", to paraphrase
Al Pacino's Vincent Hanna police detective character from Michael Mann's "Heat"
(1995), then it is worth it in the end, even if you have forsaken all semblance
of a "normal" life outside of work. (The real-life Eric O'Neill later
decided to call it a day, retiring from life as an FBI agent.)
Director Ray continues his good work of recreating true-life stories about
figures entrusted to preserve secrets and confidences, only to abuse that trust
and cause profound damage with it. Back in 2004 Mr. Ray's "Shattered
Glass", about the fall of imposter journalist Stephen Glass (a writer at The
New Republic magazine who plagiarized and made up and fabricated hundreds of
his stories) was an effective film where the performances of young stars Hayden
Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard were noteworthy. With "Breach", he
replicates that feat in Ryan Phillippe, from whom he gets the most from thanks to
Mr. Phillippe's comportment and immense confidence portraying the-soon-to-be
agent O'Neill, whose work led to Hanssen being brought to justice. Mr.
Phillippe comes into his own in "Breach", maturing to the occasion with a
solidly credible performance. Part of the allure of "Breach" is not only
its intelligence, but also its never doing more
than it has to to hold an audience's interest, which makes the appeal of "Breach" even better. Simplicity
is the key, and the bare-bones aspect of "Breach" -- the "just-the-facts, ma'am"
feel of it -- takes the film from the realm of good to the land of
highly-noteworthy.
Smaller supporting roles feature Kathleen Quinlan as Bonnie Hanssen, Caroline
Dhavernas as Juliana O"Neill (the onscreen wives of Mr. Hanssen and Mr. O'Neill
respectively) and Bruce Davison as John O'Neill, Eric's father. All do
well providing the appropriate aspect to the film's growing melodrama as they
react to their husbands'/son's predicament.
Dennis Haysbert plays Dean Plesac, the special agent who commandeers Hanssen and
puts him out of his misery. Mr. Haysbert's presence signals a familiarity:
he is currently seen on the American television series "The Unit", playing a
tactical undercover operative and agent (and of course played the U.S. president
on the television drama "24" for several seasons.)
After Hanssen is taken down, you know that all's in good hands with Haysbert.
In good hands: Chris Cooper's Robert Hanssen's spy character's number is up,
under the watchful eye of Special Agent Dean Plesac (Dennis Haysbert).
Ryan Phillippe (left) as Eric O'Neill, and the real-life Eric O'Neill, FBI agent
(now retired).
"Breach" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of
America for violence, sexual content and language. The film opens across
the United States and Canada today and is released by Universal Pictures.
"Breach" was written by Adam Mazer & William Rotko and Billy Ray, with the story
conceived by Adam Mazer & William Rotko. The film's duration is one hour
and 50 minutes.
Copyright The Popcorn Reel. PopcornReel.com. 2007.
All Rights Reserved.