In February 2001, F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen was arrested by an agency task force and charged with selling the highest and most classified of the government's secrets to the Soviet Union. His case would later identify him as the biggest spy in American history who's sharing of sensitive documents and information lead to the death of at least three operatives while exposing some of the nation's highest confidential secrets and operations.
Breach, the new film by Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) tells this remarkable story of how Hanssen was eventually exposed and how the F.B.I. worked over the final two months of his employment at the agency to try and infiltrate his circle and make a case using all their available resources at the highest level of the bureau.
Chris Cooper (Adaptation) plays Hanssen. He is a church going family man that at first hardly mirrors the monster that the agency is determined to expose. Ryan Phillippe (Crash) plays Eric O'Neill, an agent wannabe that is assigned to work as Henssen's clerk in an attempt to follow, document and spy on his move in an attempt to help the F.B.I. build their case. Their relationship for two months will lead to the downfall of Hanssen's operations and would leave a black mark on the government agencies in a year that presented its own problems by September 11th.
When we first meet O'Neill, he is a hard working computer and surveillance wiz. Married to a beautiful wife (Caroline Dhavernas) Eric has all the hopes and ambitions of working his way up the corporate ladder to become an F.B.I. field agent. So when the Bureau's Kate Borroughs recruits O'Neill to work for and report all activities of Hanssen, Eric is quick to realize the opportunity and accepts the position as Hanssen's clerk.
Eric is informed that Hanssen is nothing more than a sexual deviant that if revealed, would bring great embarrassment to the Agency. He is told of Hanssen's penchant for strippers, women and web sites depicting sexual acts and behavior and his role is based unconditionally on surveillance furthering this information.
But as Eric is dragged deeper and deeper into Hanssen's personal and professional life, he can hardly confirm his superior's suggestions. Hanssen became a mentor. He was a highly intellectual individual that had strong Catholic beliefs and a wife and family to which he adored. This brings O'Neill to question agent Borroughs as to exactly why the agency is investing so much energy and time into a man that revealed himself to be more the perfect neighbor rather than the someone worthy of such high level agency attention.
This brings Borroughs to her only recourse informing O'Neill that Hanssen is everything they claim him to be and more. He is someone who has sold secrets to the enemy and jeopardized the safety and security of the American people and their allies.
With this new information in tow, O'Neill continues with his surveillance with new found ambition and cooperates in luring Hanssen into a trust that will eventually lead to his arrest.
Breach is one of those rare spy movies that is almost perfect. The characters are all crisp and well developed and the story, inspired by real events, is a screenwriters dream. Imagine being handed the reins to a film about people whose lives - in ways that we might never fully realize the complete impact - shaped the future of a country by exposing how one man could have access and be trusted with the most confidential of information.
Luckily for us the paying customer the story and its telling were given to screenwriters Adam Mazer and William Rotko under the direction of Billy Ray who surprisingly handles the content and the pacing like a veteran even though he previously had only one directing credit on his resume prior to this superior outing. I couldn't help but think that the same story under the producing credit of Jerry Bruckheimer would have produced something with tremendous gunfire, explosions, over-wrought musical scores and a cat and mouse story that would have had more dramatic trumped up moments rather than believable situations where the tension felt by the audience comes in the form of watching our characters fight against the time they are given to produce the necessary evidence while the weight of their failure and exposure hangs heavy in the balance.
It's unfortunate that Breach is being released this time of year. Most audiences in the mood for serious fare will be spending their monies trying to catch the Oscar nominees and winners and with popcorn fare such as Ghost Rider and Bridge to Terabithia being released Breach may get lost in all the shuffle.
So whether Breach has box office success or must find life on DVD is up to the public, but one thing is certain Breach is already one of the best films of the year and as far as the spy movie genre goes, I for one am hard pressed to mention another as worthy effort.
Breach, the new film by Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) tells this remarkable story of how Hanssen was eventually exposed and how the F.B.I. worked over the final two months of his employment at the agency to try and infiltrate his circle and make a case using all their available resources at the highest level of the bureau.
Chris Cooper (Adaptation) plays Hanssen. He is a church going family man that at first hardly mirrors the monster that the agency is determined to expose. Ryan Phillippe (Crash) plays Eric O'Neill, an agent wannabe that is assigned to work as Henssen's clerk in an attempt to follow, document and spy on his move in an attempt to help the F.B.I. build their case. Their relationship for two months will lead to the downfall of Hanssen's operations and would leave a black mark on the government agencies in a year that presented its own problems by September 11th.
When we first meet O'Neill, he is a hard working computer and surveillance wiz. Married to a beautiful wife (Caroline Dhavernas) Eric has all the hopes and ambitions of working his way up the corporate ladder to become an F.B.I. field agent. So when the Bureau's Kate Borroughs recruits O'Neill to work for and report all activities of Hanssen, Eric is quick to realize the opportunity and accepts the position as Hanssen's clerk.
Eric is informed that Hanssen is nothing more than a sexual deviant that if revealed, would bring great embarrassment to the Agency. He is told of Hanssen's penchant for strippers, women and web sites depicting sexual acts and behavior and his role is based unconditionally on surveillance furthering this information.
But as Eric is dragged deeper and deeper into Hanssen's personal and professional life, he can hardly confirm his superior's suggestions. Hanssen became a mentor. He was a highly intellectual individual that had strong Catholic beliefs and a wife and family to which he adored. This brings O'Neill to question agent Borroughs as to exactly why the agency is investing so much energy and time into a man that revealed himself to be more the perfect neighbor rather than the someone worthy of such high level agency attention.
This brings Borroughs to her only recourse informing O'Neill that Hanssen is everything they claim him to be and more. He is someone who has sold secrets to the enemy and jeopardized the safety and security of the American people and their allies.
With this new information in tow, O'Neill continues with his surveillance with new found ambition and cooperates in luring Hanssen into a trust that will eventually lead to his arrest.
Breach is one of those rare spy movies that is almost perfect. The characters are all crisp and well developed and the story, inspired by real events, is a screenwriters dream. Imagine being handed the reins to a film about people whose lives - in ways that we might never fully realize the complete impact - shaped the future of a country by exposing how one man could have access and be trusted with the most confidential of information.
Luckily for us the paying customer the story and its telling were given to screenwriters Adam Mazer and William Rotko under the direction of Billy Ray who surprisingly handles the content and the pacing like a veteran even though he previously had only one directing credit on his resume prior to this superior outing. I couldn't help but think that the same story under the producing credit of Jerry Bruckheimer would have produced something with tremendous gunfire, explosions, over-wrought musical scores and a cat and mouse story that would have had more dramatic trumped up moments rather than believable situations where the tension felt by the audience comes in the form of watching our characters fight against the time they are given to produce the necessary evidence while the weight of their failure and exposure hangs heavy in the balance.
It's unfortunate that Breach is being released this time of year. Most audiences in the mood for serious fare will be spending their monies trying to catch the Oscar nominees and winners and with popcorn fare such as Ghost Rider and Bridge to Terabithia being released Breach may get lost in all the shuffle.
So whether Breach has box office success or must find life on DVD is up to the public, but one thing is certain Breach is already one of the best films of the year and as far as the spy movie genre goes, I for one am hard pressed to mention another as worthy effort.