Breach 2007
I watched this movie about halfway through on DVD before watching the next day from the beginning. About at the point I stopped watching the movie became less about the FBI spy, Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper saturates the character with bitter arrogance), and more about a rookie agent (Ryan Phillippe, actually not an agent yet) who has been assigned nominally as his assistant, but actually to keep an eye on the suspected spy. That’s too bad because Hanssen is such a great character to watch and the rookie is just kind of a normal guy whose character isn’t nearly as interesting. He isn’t even all that believable: the seasoned Hanssen is able to see through his every lie and misdirection early on, but is soon falling for every story no matter how preposterous. So I think the movie kind of unravels towards the end and I imagine some liberties were taken to inflate the role of the rookie.
Laura Linney is good as a senior case worker, but other side roles are weak, including Phillippe’s wife who seems unable to understand that her FBI agent husband won’t always be able to tell her about his day at work. Still, I thought Chris Cooper really shone in his role, making this a far better movie than last year’s The Good Shepherd where Matt Damon’s character suffered from blandness. B+.
Written: 15 Sep 2007