Director: Billy Ray
Starring: Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney
Laura Linney, Ryan Phillippe, and Chris Cooper in Breach. (Courtesy photo)
February is not often a good time to look for quality movies in theaters. Most releases at this time of year don’t really need a review. Did you really need somebody to tell you what to think of Norbit? Ghost Rider? My hope is to seek out a good movie that no one plans to see. My success rate over the years has been gruesomely bad, as I consistently find myself apologizing for telling readers not to go see that movie they had no intention of seeing. You’d think they’d take the opportunity to release strong independent and foreign films, but they seldom do. We’re stuck with low-grade horror, broad comedy, and movies that no one knows what to do with. The latter is exactly what Breach turns out to be. Director Billy Ray examines the final two months in the FBI career of real-life double agent Robert Hanssen. As he did with 2004’s terrific Shattered Glass, Ray manages to build powerful suspense without violence, chases, special effects—nobody even walks quickly in this movie. It’s a somber yet crackling little thriller, the kind that works even though you know the ending before it begins.
Two months from his mandatory retirement, renowned FBI agent Hanssen (Chris Cooper) is given the task of overseeing a new department. Young, aspiring agent Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is assigned to work for him. He’s also been tasked by hard-nosed superior Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney) to spy on Hanssen himself, though she won’t tell him why. O’Neill discovers Hanssen to be a powerfully compelling man, deeply religious, and even more deeply distrustful. This old-fashioned all-American man may be a lot of things, but he doesn’t appear too worthy of an internal investigation. But when Burroughs informs O’Neill that Hanssen is the worst double agent in the country’s history, the young man realizes just how over his head he has gotten.
Billy Ray is only two films into his directing career, but he has carved out a very impressive little niche for himself. Shattered Glass and Breach are most definitely kindred films, and not just because they are true stories of men getting caught in their deceits. Ray brings an informal, sometimes awkward humanity to his films—the magazine office in Shattered Glass is filled with young writers and editors who barely seemed qualified for their jobs. Same as the folks in the FBI of Breach. But this human approach lends the films a deeper sense of credibility, and in doing so, deeper emotional impact. It’s a powerful reminder that human fallibility is always under the surface.
Every performer, no matter how beloved, has detractors somewhere. I’m always amazed at how many of my friends don’t like Tom Hanks. I met a guy once who thought James Stewart was nothing more than a ham. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t love Chris Cooper. Cooper is sensational as Hanssen. He plays the double agent as a man whose thoughts are impenetrable, but whose emotions are in the open. The places where the two are indistinguishable become the entry points for Phillippe’s O’Neill. Ryan Phillippe is no Chris Cooper, but this is his first performance that at least seems professional. In the past he’s merely come off as a pretty, pouting, play-acting kid. But Phillippe gives a sound, if unexceptional performance. Laura Linney’s work is exceptional, just not in a good way. Linney has to be very carefully cast to make a good impact. Her tough characters—from Congo, Primal Fear, Mystic River—are her least believable. Linney always plays tough instead of simply being tough. Her work is the only real misfire in this otherwise solidly built character-study-as-thriller. Caroline Dhavernas, so good in a supporting role in last year’s Hollywoodland, is unrecognizable but just as good as Phillippe’s East German wife. I really found myself wondering who the talented German actress was.
Robert Hanssen’s motives for betraying U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union were never revealed, and Ray doesn’t invent an answer. In fact, he attempts a rather unsatisfying endrun around the question in the finale. But he gives us the best look we’re likely to get at this nearly inscrutable man, and it’s enough to ruminate on the possibilities that present themselves. Was Hanssen driven by his lack of recognition? Was his ego simply so much greater than his patriotism?
Breach is not a big movie. The truth is, it will lose little impact on video—it might be better that way. But for the next few weeks, you may not find a more satisfying movie in theaters.
Alex Manugian lives in California and works for the Cartoon Network. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard residents for many years.
