Seen: Breach

Caught Breach over the weekend. More than it's themes of duty and betrayal, Chris Cooper's memerizing performance as FBI agent Robert Hanssen, the most damaging double agent in the history of US espionage, drives the film. I haven't seen an actor so completely disappear into a character in a long while. Cooper pulls himself up into the human cypher that was Hanssen with absolute control.

As seems to be happen more and more these days (see Mystic River), Laura Linney, as the FBI agent in charge of exposing Hanssen's crimes, is totally wasted in favor of Ryan Phillippe's young up-and-coming agent trainee and the tortuous paternal relationship he develops with the older agent he's supposed to be investigating.

There are hints of stronger parallels between Linney's character and Hanssen, both of whom have sacrificed personal dreams and ambitions to serve their country, and I would liked to see them developed more, although I suspect from screenwriter's point-of-view, the focus needs to be on the character who still has a choice, in this case, Phillippe's.

I haven't seen director Billy Ray's first film Shattered Glass and I can't say that his direction here was all that impressive. All the expected claustophobia and tension.

Worth it for Cooper's performance though.