| BREACH |
 2007 - USADirector: Billy Ray
- Reviewed by Vickie
Guided by an uptight handler (Laura Linney), Eric slowly bonds with the initially gruff and persistently demanding Hanssen, gradually earning his trust as their families merge for Sunday luncheons and trips to church. But familiarity doesn’t necessarily breed contempt, and Eric’s respect for Hanssen as a man conflicts with his knowledge that, you know, he’s also a mole who’s put the hurt on countless FBI operations. That inner turmoil adds an extra layer to Eric’s work, as the bureau gets closer and closer to nailing his boss. One of the film’s greatest strengths is its attention to character development for the two leads. In Hanssen, Cooper creates a wonderfully complex man, who’s an exercise in contradiction and always surprising. Much like Eric, just when you think you’ve got a handle on Hanssen, he pulls something new (either good or bad) out of his bag of tricks, yet manages to remain sympathetic throughout. Somehow, through all the betrayal and traitorous habits, you’re still able to understand his logic. In Eric, meanwhile, you have the tried-and-true combination of ambition, inexperience and idol worship, and Eric veers back and forth between drive, panic, determination and fear. He wants to advance within the bureau, but at what price? The women, however, don’t fare quite as well. Linney’s character is one-note; Caroline Dhavernas, who co-stars as Eric’s East-German wife, isn’t particularly interesting; and Kathleen Quinlan (as Hanssen’s unsuspecting better half) is borderline Stepford-esque. Then again, this is a boy story about boys, so it’s to be expected that the supporting actresses are given less attention. The filmmakers also add curious, and frustrating, touches here and there so that your conditioned brain expects plot twists that don’t materialize or character motivations that are, it turns out, imagined (by you). With shows like 24, Alias and MI-5 in the mainstream, it’s only natural that you—okay, that I—would look for additional clues and deceptions around every corner. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a film about real events so, you know, not everyone onscreen has ulterior motives. Still, I place part of the blame on the filmmakers, who very clearly want to drop the element of doubt into the viewers’ brains on purpose. For a February release, Breach is a surprisingly effective, though not entirely flawless, drama. A character-driven film, it’s an interesting study of human (mis)behavior, but it tends to ratchet up the tension to needlessly extreme degrees in what feels like an effort to amplify scenarios that don’t really need amplification. |
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Based on the true story of one of the most damaging and dangerous spies ever
to infiltrate the FBI, this entertaining suspense yarn stars Ryan
Phillippe as FBI surveillance specialist Eric O’Neill, a relative
newbie to the agency, who’s tapped by his superiors to help gather
evidence against counterintelligence agent Robert Hanssen (Chris
Cooper). Initially told that Hanssen’s crimes relate to sexual
deviancy, O’Neill slowly learns that the devout Catholic and family man
for whom he’s been working has, in fact, been revealing details of
top-secret U.S. operations and programs to the Russians. For more than
15 years. National security has been compromised, undercover agents
have lost their lives and, not surprisingly, Hanssen is atop the
bureau’s must-thwart-immediately list.
