Breach (film)

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Breach

Directed by	Billy Ray
Produced by	Scott Kroop Adam Merims Scott Strauss
Written by	Billy Ray Adam Mazer William Rotko
Starring	Chris Cooper Ryan Phillippe Laura Linney Dennis Haysbert Caroline Dhavernas Gary Cole
Music by	Mychael Danna
Cinematography	Tak Fujimoto
Editing by	Jeffrey Ford
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	February 16, 2007 August 31, 2007
Running time	110 min.
Country	USA
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Breach is a 2007 film starring Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe

The film is directed by Billy Ray and is based on the story of Eric O'Neill, an upstart FBI operative working under Robert Hanssen, an agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union (and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia) for 15 years. The film debuted in the USA on February 16, 2007. The film's DVD was released on June 12, 2007. Breach is rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language.

1 Cast
2 Plot
3 Critical reception
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Chris Cooper	Robert Hanssen
Ryan Phillippe	Eric O'Neill
Laura Linney	Kate Burroughs
Caroline Dhavernas	Juliana O'Neill
Gary Cole	Rich Garces
Dennis Haysbert	Dean Plesac
Kathleen Quinlan	Bonnie Hanssen
Tom Barnett	Jim Olsen
Bruce Davison	John O'Neill

[edit] Plot

Eric O'Neill is a junior FBI employee hoping that his surveillance work on counterterrorism will earn him a promotion to agent when he is given a special assignment. While undercover as a clerk, he is to monitor Robert Hanssen, a senior agent whom he is told is suspected of being a sexual deviant. Hanssen had been recalled to FBI headquarters ostensibly to head up a new division specializing in Information Assurance.

At first, Hanssen insists on a strict formality between them with O'Neill calling Hanssen "sir" or "boss" and O'Neill referred to only as "clerk". Hanssen frequently rails against the hidebound bureaucracy of the FBI. He complains that only those who regularly "shoot guns" are considered for senior positions instead of those, like him, who are involved in vital national security matters. He calls the bureau's information technology systems antiquated and laments the lack of coordination and information exchange with other intelligence agencies.

Eventually, Hanssen becomes a mentor to O'Neill. He is impressed with a study of the FBI's computer systems completed by the junior employee. Hanssen also takes a personal interest in O'Neill and his young wife. A devout Catholic who is also a member of Opus Dei, Hanssen tries to lead O'Neill, an inactive Catholic, and his largely secular East German born wife to become active churchgoers.

O'Neill, while sometimes feeling Hanssen is becoming overly involved in his personal life, has a growing respect for him and has found no evidence of a secret double life. O'Neill confronts his handler, Agent Kate Burroughs, in the undercover assignment. She tells him that the sexual deviance allegations are only a secondary consideration. Hanssen is actually under investigation for having spied for the Soviet Union and Russia since around 1985.

While the FBI could arrest Hanssen now under lesser charges, they want to catch him in the act of espionage. If the FBI can threaten him with the possibility of the death penalty for treason, Hanssen may be more likely to divulge the information he stole. O'Neill is assigned to obtain data from Hanssen's Palm Pilot and keep him occupied while the FBI searches and bugs his car.

Hanssen believes he is being surveilled by Russians with a grudge. The tracking devices in his car cause interference with the radio. He also wonders why he was placed in an isolated position in the FBI only a few months before he's scheduled to retire. The FBI intercepts a message he sends to his Russian handlers saying he will not provide any more information. Hanssen tells O'Neill that he is being spied upon by Russian agents. O'Neill persuades Hanssen that he is not being trailed by the Russians or by him on behalf of the FBI. More importantly, O'Neill questions Hanssen's importance which wounds Hanssen's ego. As a result, Hanssen makes one last dead drop of stolen information. The FBI arrests him in the act.

At the end of the movie, due to the stress of the investigation on him and his marriage, O'Neill quits his job at the FBI, also observing that catching the greatest mole in American history would be the most important event to ever occur in his FBI career. After packing his things from Hanssen's office, he catches the elevator door, in which stands Hanssen himself, accompanied by two agents. Hanssen asks O'Neill to "pray for me," to which O'Neill agrees, and the movie ends with the elevator doors closing.

[edit] Critical reception

Reviews of the film have been very positive, with much praise going to Chris Cooper's performance. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 84% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 164 reviews.^[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 36 reviews.^[2]

On the February 17, 2007 broadcast of the television show Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper gave the film a "thumbs up" rating, calling it the best movie of the year so far. He also declared Cooper's performance worthy of an Oscar nomination.

Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor named Breach the best film of 2007.^[3] Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post named it the 9th best film of 2007.^[3] Richard Schickel of TIME magazine called the film one of the Top 10 Movies of 2007, ranking it at #6, as well as calling Chris Cooper’s performance “brilliant”.^[3]^[4]