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Breach
Chris Cooper stars as an ageing FBI officer with a dark secret, and Ryan Phillipe as the young agent aiming to uncover it. Spy drama based on a true story
Influenced by the edgy, politically-hued dramas of the 1970s like The Conversation and All the President's Men, Breach initially seems like it's going to be a typical spy thriller, with a game of cat-and-mouse between a double agent and the man sent to catch him. However, the film has other plans in mind, closely following the true story of the biggest security breach in US history, while also once again proving Chris Cooper to be one of the most interesting and reliable actors at work in Hollywood. Opening with genuine archive news footage announcing the arrest of a senior FBI agent on charges of espionage in February 2001, the film then flashes back a number of weeks, to trainee agent and computer specialist Eric O'Neill (Phillipe). Hyper-ambitious and keen to make his reputation, O'Neill is more than happy to get the chance to jump to full agent status by taking an unorthodox assignment - he'll act as a clerk for Robert Hansen, an intelligence expert with 25 years of Bureau service. Told that Hansen is a sexual deviant, O'Neill is ordered to simply observe his target and note down any details, but while he initially clashes with the harsh and irritable Hansen, a sense of respect soon develops between the two men. Finding his 'target' a devout Catholic and family man whose main annoyance is the way the Bureau undervalues him, O'Neil starts questioning why he's been given the assignment - until he's told the real reason for his presence. Hansen is actually a traitor who's been selling state secrets to Russia for years, a process that's also resulted in numerous deaths. In order to arrest him, the FBI need to catch him in the act, and O'Neill is soon having to go to extraordinary lengths to maintain his relationship with Hansen, bringing his own marriage into jeopardy. Writer-director Billy Ray doesn't short-change the tension - especially the beautifully executed scene where O'Neill races against time to steal data from Hansen's PDA - but he's more interested in the interactions between the characters, resulting in a film that's highly intriguing but doesn't grip in the same way as Ray's similarly themed Shattered Glass. Photographed in grey, wintry tones, the film offers an effective glimpse into the inner workings of a deep cover investigation, yet can't escape the feeling that there's a much more exciting and involving story trying to get out. The subplot dealing with O'Neill's relationship with his wife (Dhavernas) suffers from this, and certain story developments - despite being strongly based on fact - end up seeming rather routine and cliched. What keeps the film going is the excellent support cast - including Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert and Gary Cole - and the multi-layered relationship between the two main characters. Ryan Phillipe does a surprisingly strong and engaging job with a thin character, but it's Chris Cooper who elevates this from an efficient drama to something truly memorable. Hardly wasting a second of his screen-time, he brings all of the contradictions of Hansen to life - particularly his devout Catholicism - making him a man who's simultaneously abrasive, charming, tragic and repellent. It's a fascinating character study, and the film sensibly steers clear of spelling out the exact reasons why Hansen betrayed the country he'd served for so long, instead leaving the audience to make up their own minds. Verdict An effective and meticulous character drama, Breach doesn't quite make the most of its story but still tells a fascinating tale, aided by Chris Cooper's magnetic central performance. |
