'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+

'The Wind that Shakes the Barley': My kindgdom for a subtitle

It's probably not the best to choose a title line/headline that makes me look stupid. But alas. Watching 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' (trailer), I found myself wishing that I was at home at could put the captions up because for the first five minutes I understood hardly a word and throughout the film I think I missed things because the accents were so strong that my American ears had a hard time comprehending. Also the fact that I had to pay close attention because I kind of felt like there was going to be an exam at the conclusion. It had the feeling of those type of European films (mostly British, although it would be bad to use to equate an Irish movie to anything British) that American doesn't have which are actual histories and not a sexed-up re -imagining of history.

Where the movie excels is in its deft handling of the complexity of the political situation that forms the backdrop, in which it goes directly from the Irish War of Independence to the Irish civil war as seen through the eyes of two brothers. The movie captures the complexity of this struggle and the moral ambiguity of violence by presenting us with a worthy fight against the Brits and then a more questionable civil war. Although director Ken Loach seems to have more allegiance to one side (I won't bog myself too much in the conflict in this little space), he shows the flaws on both sides and in the end I saw the heroism and the repugnancy of both sides. It also features a pretty spectacular performance by Cillian Murphy, who has finally found a movie where he lives up to his promise. He got rave reviews for his role in Breakfast on Pluto, but I found it gimmicky. Before now his standout role to me was still 28 Days Later, but here he manages to pull of such strength from a less than dominating stature and a character who begins so small. He's really the heart of this movie and we see in him how a smart and compassionate man can be driving to the worst things imaginable because of repression.

My suggestion is to catch it on DVD. You'll miss the lush Irish countryside and the always preferable opportunity to see something on the big screen, but it's the type of movie that would benefit from being able to take a break and perhaps use those subtitles. That way maybe you'll realize who Cillian Murphy's brother is long before I did.

Grade: B+