BREACH
**** out of *****

Reviewed by Finger_Of_DOOM

Genres
Drama
Thriller

2007
Directed by
Billy Ray
Written by
Billy Ray
William Rotko
Adam Mazer
Cast
Chris Cooper - Robert Hanssen
Ryan Phillippe - Eric O'Neill
Laura Linney - Kate Burroughs
Dennis Haysbert - Dan Plesac

In 2003 Billy Ray released his debut feature Shattered Glass, a film about Stephen Glass, a journalist who fabricated a vast majority of his work. The film was a critical success, although sadly this didn’t necessarily equate into box office success. Still Ray managed to impress with his solid writing and directing. Breach is no different in almost every aspect than Shattered Glass, it includes great writing, great performances but sadly no respect at the box office during its theatrical run. Perhaps it will find a wider audience on DVD?

In 2001 the FBI captured Robert Hanssen (played by Chris Cooper) and charged him with spying. Hanssen, a 25-year career FBI agent started selling state secrets to the Soviets in 1984 (this is what he told investigators). His arrest marked the end of what has become the biggest breach of National Security in United States history, the damage in financial terms was in the billions. Filmmaker Billy Ray continues his “based on a true story” trend intricately piecing together a film that covers Hanssen’s final two months leading up to and including his arrest. During this two month period, Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe), a young Bureau trainee wanting to make ‘Agent’ status is assigned to work for Hanssen in a new division set up for him to run, his job is to report everything he does back to FBI superior Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney) who is overseeing the investigation into Hanssen’s treason.

Breach is not like most espionage themed films in the sense that it does have car chases; it doesn’t have explosions and intense cutting. It’s a film based on real events and thus the material is treated in such a way to evoke realism. It feels like a document of the event that’s occurred during that portion of Hanssen’s life. The result is a dramatic piece that puts a lot of attention onto dialogue driven scenes that do, at times stretch. This film certainly asks for patience from its viewers but it ultimately pays off in the film’s final 20 minutes. Just be warned that the meandering pace might put some people off.

Much like the vastly underrated Shattered Glass, Ray has managed to craft some brilliant performances from his cast, most notably Chris Cooper, who after his work in American Beauty (1999), The Bourne Identity (2002), Adaptation (2002), Seabiscuit (2003) and Syriana (2005) has managed to create an impressive body of work that displays his versatile acting sensibility. In Breach it almost feels like he’s expanding on Col. Frank Fitts, the character he played in American Beauty, but manages to steer away from it without ever feeling like he’s repeating the same performance.

Breach is slow moving and requires the audience’s full attention; it’s certainly not for everyone. The payoff is already known, there are no hallmarks of big overblown Hollywood productions amid this one, it’s simply relies on good old fashioned narrative storytelling and strong performances much like films from 70’s American cinema where Ray draws a lot of his influences from.

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