Ryan Scott
14th July 2007, 07:00 AM (07:00)
The wife and I rented Breach last night; she really wanted to see it. This is the "based on a true story" about Robert Hanssen, the 25-year FBI vet who doubled as "the worst spy in American history."
Chris Cooper, an often-overlooked character actor played Hanssen and did a pretty good job getting into the character and helping someone understand how one might become a spy. The editing and script are pretty weak, so it doesn't come across as well as it should. I hope he doesn't miss out on award nominations because the movie was bad.
Ryan Phillippe plays the young, ambitious agent assigned to catch Hanssen in the act (although he doesn't know that's his assignment at first). Phillippe has been better in other movies, but does an adequate job.
I was quite impressed with Laura Linney as Phillippe's handler; she a great actress and does well in this film.
Overall, the film is slow moving and pretty boring. The cinematography is pretty good, but, as mentioned, the rest of the technical elements are shabby. At the end Katelynn and I both decided the only reason we were interested until the end was because "we wanted to know what it looked like when one of these things goes down."
There's just this odd, scary, ominous vibe through the whole thing, but little suspense because you know what's going to happen in the end. I wouldn't really recommend it unless you're really into "based on a true story" stories or really love the FBI.
Chris Cooper, an often-overlooked character actor played Hanssen and did a pretty good job getting into the character and helping someone understand how one might become a spy. The editing and script are pretty weak, so it doesn't come across as well as it should. I hope he doesn't miss out on award nominations because the movie was bad.
Ryan Phillippe plays the young, ambitious agent assigned to catch Hanssen in the act (although he doesn't know that's his assignment at first). Phillippe has been better in other movies, but does an adequate job.
I was quite impressed with Laura Linney as Phillippe's handler; she a great actress and does well in this film.
Overall, the film is slow moving and pretty boring. The cinematography is pretty good, but, as mentioned, the rest of the technical elements are shabby. At the end Katelynn and I both decided the only reason we were interested until the end was because "we wanted to know what it looked like when one of these things goes down."
There's just this odd, scary, ominous vibe through the whole thing, but little suspense because you know what's going to happen in the end. I wouldn't really recommend it unless you're really into "based on a true story" stories or really love the FBI.