'Breach': No TNT Movie After All

'Breach' (trailer), could have been really crappy. It was based on a true, recent story; it is from that always dangerous "thriller" genre; and it's lead actor is the milquetoast Ryan Phillippe. But filmmaker Billy Ray works the same magic he did with 2003's 'Shattered Glass', where he told the story of fabricating writer Stephen Glass with Hayden Christensen as his leading man. 'Breach' is a taunt thriller that kept my attention the entire time, even though I knew what was going to happen at the end. And it walked that tight line of making a thriller where you care about the events and a drama where you analyze the emotions without going too far either way.

The story Ray tells is that of Robert Hanssen, and FBI agent who sold secrets to the Russians for at least 15 years. Not only do we know this from the beginning, but at the top of the movie, we see former Attorney General John Ashcroft talking about the apprehension. Instead of focusing on the villian, Ray focuses on Phillippe's Eric O'Neill, and FBI operative who went undercover as Hanssen's assistant to gleam incriminating evidence. Because they've already told us the ending, they are able to keep it interesting on how Phillippe's character is affected by the work he is doing. Plus there's the fact that Hanssen is played to brillian effect by Chris Cooper, who is reliably supberb. He's an actor who is known for playing characters brilliantly without being showy and trying to grab the spotlight. Here he really gets to shine by using these gifts to leave out much of who Hanssen is and keep us wondering -- that's part of what keeps it exciting. It's also great watching him pull of the staunch piety and chew out Phillippe the next. It truly is a well-cast film (Phillippe being the weakest rung, although he does OK), with great supporting roles by a number of people, including the always great Laura Linney, who has proven to be great at bringing depth to what could be small, cardboard characters.

Overall the movie is not particularly innovative -- there's nothing here that makes me rethink how a film of this genre can be made. It's not a movie that at the end of the year will probably be on my best of 2007 list. But I certainly enjoyed the movie and thought the pacing and the acting were both notable. There is no reason why more movies can't be like this -- a blockbuster action movie could learn a lot from it.

Grade: B+