Breach
Breach
PG-13 | 12 February 2007 (USA)
Breach Trailers

Eric O'Neill, a computer specialist who wants to be made an agent is assigned to clerk for Robert Hanssen, a senior agent with 25 years in the FBI, and to write down everything Hanssen does. O'Neill's told it's an investigation of Hanssen's sexual habits, however Hanssen is really suspected of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for years and being responsible for the deaths of agents working for the United States.

Reviews
ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
dwelch-88045 Keeps you focused, very interesting, based on a true story.
grantss Intriguing spy drama.The true story of the sequence of events that lead to the arrest of Robert Hanssen for espionage in 2001. Hanssen (played by Chris Cooper) was a senior agent at the FBI. An agent-in-training, Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe), is hired as Hanssen's assistant, in order to keep tabs on him. O'Neil is initially not told of the true nature of the investigation. Once he finds out, however, the layers of deception increase and he soon finds himself in danger.An interesting, well told story, directed by Billy Ray, director of the even-better Shattered Glass. Starts quite dryly and in bit unfocused a fashion. This is probably deliberate, as initially O'Neill is not too sure of his mission and nothing really happens. However, after a while the pieces fall into place and we have a reasonably tense drama.Solid performances from Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe in the lead roles. Good supporting cast that includes Laura Linney, Gary Cole and Kathleen Quinlan.
patrick powell Whenever a film I am about to watch is prefaced by the legend 'based on a true story' or a variation of such, my heart sinks. And usually it sinks with good reason. The legend is almost always a studio device to acquire a little something extra for its film, usually duplicitously, which it doesn't deserve. Breach, thank goodness, is the exception which proves the rule.Robert Hannsen, here admirably and interestingly played by Chris Cooper, was a real-life traitor who is now serving life without parole in jail for his treachery. We also know that he was or purported to be - given the unfathomable enigma he presents to this day, how can we know what is true? - a devout Roman Catholic, that he secretly taped videos of himself having sex with his wife and passed the tapes on to a friend, and that to date his only apparent motive for betraying his country and colleagues was money.So far so enigmatic and the raw material of Hannsen's treachery could have made any number of different kinds of films. Director Billy Ray and his scriptwriters take that material and make a rather good film. (I was, by the way, encouraged to watch Breach when I saw that it also stars Laura Linney - I have, to date, not seen her in anything but good and interesting films.) Without grandstanding, fake excitement, car chases or gratuitous sex and violence Ray has made an engrossing film which doesn't strike a single wrong note and oozes suspense - even though we all know what's going to happen. And that in my book constitutes a class act. We are drawn into Ryan Phillippe's dilemma that he cannot tell his wife the truth about his work even though it is in danger of doing serious damage to his marriage. We are drawn into Cooper's weirdly paranoid world and even allowed a suggestion at what might have set him on the road to treachery. But these elements are admirably played - there is no fake drama at all.So sorry all you guys and gals who like a bit of 'action' in your 'spy' films, you ain't going to get it with Breach. But you will get and intelligent, quite gripping drama of a kind not often made.
Claudio Carvalho In 2001, the FBI clerk Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe), who is a specialist in computer but wants to be an agent, is invited by agent Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney) to work with the senior agent Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) that had worked for many years in Soviet Union and now is assigned to protect the agency against electronic infiltration. Kate tells to Eric to write down the behavior of Hanssen in notes and send them to her since Hanssen would be a pervert under investigation of his sexual behavior.Eric works with the bitter and rough Hanssen and he finds a family man and devout Catholic who earns his respect instead of a deviant. Further, his investigation and his relationship with Hanssen and his wife Bonnie (Kathleen Quinlan) affects Eric's wife Juliana (Caroline Dhavernas). Eric tells his opinion to Kate and she decides to tell the truth about Hanssen to him: he is a mole that sold many secrets to the Soviet Union and has compromised the identity of dozens of agents. Eric decides to go on in his assignment despite his friendship with Hanssen and the problems in his marriage."Breach" is an engaging and dramatic spy movie based on the true story of an FBI agent that was arrested for spying on 20 February 2001. I bought this DVD many years ago and only yesterday I decided to watch it and I found a great film.The plot is developed in adequate pace and supported by magnificent performances of Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney. The duel between Eric O'Neill and Robert Hanssen is fantastic. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Quebra de Confiança" ("Fail in Confidence")