Breach

 3/4

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Chris Cooper, Laura Linney, Caroline Dhavernas, Dennis Haysbert, Kathleen Quinlan

Rated PG-13 for Violence, Sexual Content and Language

A person's opinion of "Breach" will probably depend on the perspective with which it is viewed.  As a thriller, it doesn't work.  The suspense is limited and the opportunities for clutching the armrests are almost none.  This isn't that kind of movie, nor was it intended to be.  As a drama, it's on more solid ground.  Watching Chris Cooper command the screen is enough of a pleasure that it makes up for an occasionally jumpy story,

Eric O'Neill (Phillippe) is ambitious trainee at the FBI eager, perhaps too eager, to make agent.  His go-getter attitude sometimes rubs people the wrong way, but not the higher ups, who tap him for a special assignment.  His handler, Kate Burroughs (Linney), tells him that a veteran agent is suspected of being a sexual deviant.  Eric is surprised to find out that his target, Robert Hanssen (Cooper), is in fact a pious, staunch patriot and a devout Catholic.  They have a rocky relationship but eventually Eric grows to respect Hanssen.  That's when Kate reveals his real assignment: Hanssen is a traitor, having sold our country's dearest secrets to the Russians for a quarter century.  Eric's job is to nab him.

"Breach" belongs to Chris Cooper.  While Phillippe, Linney and the rest of the cast do solid jobs, Cooper outshines them all.  He's one of those actors who, in addition to having tremendous ability, he has the presence to dominate any scene he is in through sheer personality.  He blows you away.

As his foil, Ryan Phillippe is adequate.  The role is certainly within the actor's limited range, but the problem is that he can't match Cooper.  I mean, who could, but still.  Cooper takes up all the oxygen, making him look impotent.  It's the same thing with Laura Linney, who, by the way, is in top form.

On the other side of the camera, the film is on more shaky ground.  This was the second film from longtime screenwriter Billy Ray, and it's a big step down from "Shattered Glass," which was also about a scandal.  It's not that the ending to the story is known (Ray knows that everyone in the audience knows that Robert Hanssen was caught and wisely doesn't bother to try and hid his fate), it's that he makes mistakes in telling it.  The film's narrative is pedestrian and prone to at least one editing gaffe.  A movie like this should have more insight or energy.  Preferably both.

Watching a movie like "Breach" isn't about finding out what happens.  It's about seeing how it all went down.  On that level, the film works.

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