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Breach (Widescreen Edition)
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$12.98
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| Part No: | B000OYAT3U |
| Manufacturer: | Universal Studios |
| MFG Part: | MCAD61032276D |
| Customer Rating: | 4.0 / 5.0 |
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Inspired by true events this takes you deep inside the halls of the fbi for a top-secret investigation to uncover the greatest breach in the history of u.S. Intelligence. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 05/06/2008 Starring: Chris Cooper Ryan Phillipe Run time: 111 minutes Rating: Pg13
Is a mystery really mysterious when the end isn't a secret? Is espionage still thrilling when you know beforehand that the cloak has been pulled back and the dagger revealed? If it's a film as good as
Breach, the answer is a resounding yes. Here is a true story that's genuinely stranger than fiction: FBI agent Robert Hanssen spent over 20 years selling government secrets to the Russians, making him the most egregious traitor in U.S. history. He was an Opus Dei Catholic and a devout churchgoer who was also a sexual deviant, a straitlaced company man so trusted by his employers that they once appointed him to lead an investigation designed to reveal who the spy was--when in fact it was Hanssen himself. And in the end, he was brought down in part by 26-year-old Eric O'Neill, an agent-in-training who worked with him for just two months. Chris Cooper, a 2003 supporting actor Oscar winner for
Adaptation, is brilliant in the lead role, playing Hanssen as a dour, cold, ultraconservative cipher (women in pantsuits are just one of his peeves) whose conversations more closely resemble interrogations. Ryan Phillippe is also excellent as O'Neill, who's initially kept in the dark by the superior (Laura Linney) who assigned him to help expose Hanssen's treachery; thinking he's been brought in only to gather evidence about his boss' sexual transgressions, O'Neill finds himself caught in a profound moral conundrum, grudgingly admiring Hanssen even as his own marriage is severely tested by the older man's creepy and hypocritical intrusion into their lives, not to mention the FBI's strict rules against discussing the case.
Director Billy Ray (whose previous feature was also a true story: Shattered Glass, about the young writer who fabricated stories for The New Republic) and co-screenwriters Adam Mazer and William Rotko do an extraordinary job of maintaining the tension as the story leads to the conclusion that's been revealed in the first few frames (i.e., Hanssen's arrest in February 2001); the exquisite torture of O'Neill's having to keep Hanssen distracted while Bureau technicians search the latter's car is but one example. Moreover, notwithstanding the plot developments, the filmmakers manage to keep their focus on the personal interactions that are the film's key element: the relationships that O'Neill maintains with Hanssen, his father (a cameo by Bruce Davison), his wife (Caroline Dhavernas), and others are entirely credible. At once fascinating and horrifying, Breach is inarguably one of the best films of 2007. --Sam Graham
| A Tremendous Story Virtually Swept Under The Rug | 2010-07-06 | 2 / 5 |
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| Chris Cooper is a remarkable genius... and enjoy anything espionage related... which is why I checked this flick out. ALOT was left out out the film, and ALOT of people SCREWED UP, in many ways being responsible for lives lost as well... though few if any would actually step forward- cowards they are... but that's how it is. May have been a true story, but was so dull, I had to force myself to finish seeing it. Hanssen isn't the only one who should have been nailed to the cross. |
| Til you piss purple | 2010-05-15 | 5 / 5 |
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BREACH is one of the most suspenseful true story-based movies you'll ever see. Based on the book by Eric O'Neill (played by a charming and sweet Ryan Phillippe), it tells the jump-in-your-seat sting operation aimed at America's worst turncoat spy Robert Hanssen (a creepy-silky-voiced Chris Cooper).
FBI prick Hanssen, a know-it-all careerist who thinks he's far superior to careerists everywhere, has been selling us out to the Russians for nearly two decades. Poor little O'Neill, desperate to be some sort of real agent, is assigned to spy on Hanssen--and what he finds will rattle your bones. Of course no one at the time of O'Neill's assignment knew what Hanssen had done, exactly...and O'Neill himself thought he was supposed to catch Hanssen watching porn on the net.
This dramatic, night-shade noirish adventure will leave you wondering about your own siblings and neighbors. Sure, Hanssen is a bastard with a perverted wife and phony Catholic morals...it's the weak spot that O'Neill exploits to get Hanssen nailed. However, there is a side to Hanssen's schizophrenic intelligence: he wants America to see how pathetically insecure it really is.
So he makes a fortune selling secrets to the Russians to prove himself correct. Uh-huh. I recall how well THAT stood up in court at Hanssen's trial. Treason and espionage, and only the government knows what all else. They threw the book at him, and I say JUSTICE!!
Chris Cooper gives an Oscar-worthy turn here, and I tell you: THAT man can be SPOOKY as hell!
You won't soon forget this classic slice of recent American history. You won't forget the lessons learned, and one thing you will never forget is the tension that O'Neill is either going to get caught or bungle the whole operation. Only after they read him in does he get real control of what he must do next.
"Pray for me," is the last thing Hanssen ever said to O'Neill. When you've seen this, you'll be praying we don't have any more Bob Hanssens out there! |
| Mildly Entertaining | 2010-04-27 | 3 / 5 |
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| This is only mildly entertaining and unless you're a real fan of the cast, it's better to invest in other DVD's. |
| Excellent Movie | 2009-12-22 | 5 / 5 |
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| Great Movie, gives you a realistic perspective of the life of an agent, the conflicts between the personal life and the demands of his job. The contrast of telling the truth and living the truth. Great reconstruction of one of the worst failures in the intelligence community. |
| "is it worth it?" | 2009-12-21 | 4 / 5 |
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The story of the capture of Robert Hanssen, who stole military secrets from the US and sold them to the Russians, that grabs your attention and keeps you fidgeting on the edge of your seat!
It is amazing how a righteous individual can be extremely corrupted inside: It's called compensation. Chris Cooper is amazing as Hanssen , nearly to a point that you almost feel sorry for him in spite of how terrible his character is! Watch the amazing performance and "Pray for us".
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