Susan Granger’s review of “Breach” (Universal Pictures)
Far more focused than “The Good Shepherd,” this spy drama exposes how the FBI tracked and trapped its own most dangerous and damaging double-agent.
On February 18, 2001, veteran FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for giving the former Soviet Union top-secret documents over a period of 22 years and revealing the identities of U.S. agents, many of whom subsequently disappeared. This picture is based on true events that led to his subsequent conviction for treason against the United States.
It begins as an ambitious 26 year-old agent-in-training Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is assigned to keep surveillance on quirky computer/technology expert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), who has been brought back to Washington, supposedly to set up an “information assurance” or security division to protect all classified FBI intelligence. Special Agents Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney) and Dean Plesac (Dennis Hasbert) head the task force that’s after Hanssen, who appears to be a devout Roman Catholic and devoted family man. But the duplicitous demands of the job eventually jeopardize O’Neill’s relationship with his trusting wife Juliana (Caroline Dhavernas), whose family is from East Germany.
Perceptive Chris Cooper captures the chameleon-like qualities of the bewilderingly contradictory Hanssen, playing off Ryan Phillippe’s affability, while writer/director Billy Ray (“Shattered Glass”) skillfully ratchets up the tension – with kudos also to co-writers Adam Mazer, William Rotko and the real-life Eric O’Neill, who served as special consultant.
Although the question of ‘why’ Hanssen chose to betray his own government is never answered – “The ‘why’ doesn’t mean a thing,” Hanssen says – the speculation is that it could have been ego and/or a desire to expose our notorious lack of security, prior to 9/11. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Breach” is a subtle, suspenseful 7. It’s a taut espionage thriller.
