DVD : Breach (Widescreen Edition)

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
EAN: 0025193227621
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 12, 2007
Running Time: 111 minutes
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: February 16, 2007
Sales Rank: 7830
MPN: 61032276

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Inspired by true events Breach is a gripping and intense thriller that takes you deep inside the halls of the FBI for a top-secret investigation to uncover the greatest breach in the history of US intelligence. Featuring powerful performances by Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe nothing is as it seems in this suspenseful action packed film that will keep you riveted until the climactic ending.Runtime: 111 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 025193227621 Manufacturer No: 61032276

Amazon.com:
Is a mystery really mysterious when the end isn't a secret? Is espionage still thrilling when you know beforehand that the cloak has been pulled back and the dagger revealed? If it's a film as good as Breach, the answer is a resounding yes. Here is a true story that's genuinely stranger than fiction: FBI agent Robert Hanssen spent over 20 years selling government secrets to the Russians, making him the most egregious traitor in U.S. history. He was an Opus Dei Catholic and a devout churchgoer who was also a sexual deviant, a straitlaced company man so trusted by his employers that they once appointed him to lead an investigation designed to reveal who the spy was--when in fact it was Hanssen himself. And in the end, he was brought down in part by 26-year-old Eric O'Neill, an agent-in-training who worked with him for just two months. Chris Cooper, a 2003 supporting actor Oscar winner for Adaptation, is brilliant in the lead role, playing Hanssen as a dour, cold, ultraconservative cipher (women in pantsuits are just one of his peeves) whose conversations more closely resemble interrogations. Ryan Phillippe is also excellent as O'Neill, who's initially kept in the dark by the superior (Laura Linney) who assigned him to help expose Hanssen's treachery; thinking he's been brought in only to gather evidence about his boss' sexual transgressions, O'Neill finds himself caught in a profound moral conundrum, grudgingly admiring Hanssen even as his own marriage is severely tested by the older man's creepy and hypocritical intrusion into their lives, not to mention the FBI's strict rules against discussing the case.

Director Billy Ray (whose previous feature was also a true story: Shattered Glass, about the young writer who fabricated stories for The New Republic) and co-screenwriters Adam Mazer and William Rotko do an extraordinary job of maintaining the tension as the story leads to the conclusion that's been revealed in the first few frames (i.e., Hanssen's arrest in February 2001); the exquisite torture of O'Neill's having to keep Hanssen distracted while Bureau technicians search the latter's car is but one example. Moreover, notwithstanding the plot developments, the filmmakers manage to keep their focus on the personal interactions that are the film's key element: the relationships that O'Neill maintains with Hanssen, his father (a cameo by Bruce Davison), his wife (Caroline Dhavernas), and others are entirely credible. At once fascinating and horrifying, Breach is inarguably one of the best films of 2007. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Cooper is great...
...but the pacing and the dreary visuals leaves this reviewer a little cold. Character actor Chris Cooper never ceases to amaze me. He can become anyone quite convincingly. Phillipe is also showing signs of great potential and because of them this film is entertaining. However, the pacing is all wrong. Too many times I was ready for them to arrest him. There's no surprise-no nail biting scenes that leave you perched on the edge of your seat. This is just a film that's little more than a documentary. ... Read More

Rating:

- Intelligent & gripping, with brilliant Chris Cooper performance
I didn't remember all that much about the story of the traitor Robert Hansen...but BREACH sure brought it back. In the very early years of the George W. Bush administration, before 9/11, the arrest of Hansen was a big story. I called him a traitor, rather than a double agent, because the extent of the damage he caused to the US intelligence efforts over a couple of decades was in the billions of dollars and also probably cost the lives of several KGB agents who were working for the US.

BREACH ... Read More

Rating:

- Motive remains the mystery
Well this is certainly an excellent film. The script is smart and requires constant attention. The acting is superb. The narrative and editing are fast paced and yet the viewer does not get lost. The story is compelling, complex, and frightening. Even with all these positive qualities, the film leaves the viewer with one unresolved issue, and that is to fully understand the motives behind FBI agent Robert Hanssen's 20 years of spying for the Soviet Union while nestled in the center of the FBI.

Chris ... Read More

Rating:

- Chris Cooper is great . . .
This intelligent, well-directed/well-written film is about the famous contemporary spy for the Russians, Robert Hanssen - an FBI agent selling secrets for over 20 years until caught.

Besides telling a great story, veteran actor Chris Cooper (you might not even recognize the name, but you'll know him when you see him) turns in a sterling performance as the quirky, smart, religious Hanssen. He "makes the movie" in my opinion and is fascinating to watch and analyze as he works through this. I don't know ... Read More

Rating:

- The great acting cannot overcome the pace
Breach is a classic espionage movie. Eric O'Neill (Ryan Philippe) is sent to work on the daunting task of spying on a spy. He's paired with a veteran agent named Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper). Initially, O'Neill is given the assignment by Agent Burroughs (Laura Linney) under the guise that Hanssen has been posting sexual content on the web. Eventually he discovers that Hanssen is involved in something much more despicable.

From there it's a somewhat tense battle of wills as O'Neill, Burroughs, and all ... Read More

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