Chris Cooper delivers a performance like nobody has ever seen. One of the best acting performances of all time. In every important way, Breach isn't just a solid thriller; it's also an ambitious and engrossing piece of narrative journalism. That it's based on a true spying case seems almost incidental. The heart of the picture is the human drama. Without Cooper's performance, Breach would have been a good, workmanlike thriller. His presence lifts it to a whole new level. The movie is serious, intelligent, intentionally claustrophobic and awfully somber -- you remember it in black and white, though it was shot (by the masterful Tak Fujimoto) in color. But you'll remember Mr. Cooper's performance for exactly what it is, an uncompromising study in the gradual decay of a soul. As the New York Times put it "One of the strengths of Breach, a thriller that manages to excite and unnerve despite our knowing the ending, is how well it captures the utter banality of this man and his world." Chris Cooper is truly amazing. In this film, everything comes down to the acting. Chris Cooper, one of our finest screen actors, gets inside the mysterious traitor. Ryan Phillippe has just the right gung-ho determination tempered with a touch of naivete as O'Neill. Meanwhile, Laura Linney nails the role of a career agent. Breach is A wonderfully taut cat-and-mouse thriller. As The Village Voice put it "This is a spy movie bereft of the genre's usual, casual kicks. It's not interested in cheap thrills or playing gotcha with the audience. (Which isn't to say parts of it aren't exhilarating.)" Cooper also pulls off the near-impossible, making us feel dashes of sympathy for this twisted and unscrupulous man. The movie is all Cooper, and he sure as hell delivers.… Expand

Despite an often over-produced soundtrack by Mychael Denna and an unpromising first 5 minutes, “Breach” then presented itself with as the most talented acting ensemble in 2007 thus far. Chris Cooper leads the talented cast in an outstanding performance as Mr. Hansen. Cooper is able to depict the sorrow and insecurities of a very complex and deceiving character. The way he is able to show his talents throughout the film should put him up as an early candidate for the golden globes and Oscars. Ryan Phillipe, in the films title role shows off his skills that could land him in some Hollywood films come 2008. The choices that the characters in the film come across are striking and powerful, balancing out family, faith, and honor while dealing with what is still the greatest US security breach in the history of American government. Although the film is often to complex, especially for an immature or young viewer, the convolution and the immensity that the film carries out is nonetheless wonderful. Every actor delivers a striking performance. The ability that the film has to depict the feelings of each character as they go threw there lies and there difficulties is all in the name of a sacrificial job that takes them away from there family. In contrast to Robert De Niro’s 2006 film “The Good Shepherd”, “Breach” is able to depict the difficulties of businessmen betrayal while at the same time dealing with the difficulties of family struggles.Breach is very well directed, and confident in its persona. It is hard to complain about such a fascinating story that the film depicts with a striking honesty cast especially when the movie is damn good. A-. 4 stars.… Expand

A high quality thriller that uses tension rather than gagdetry and action to tell the tale of an incredible, disturbing true story.

One of those thrill free thrillers, and unfortunately the drama though superbly acted cannot make up for it. The script makes very little happen but what saves this movie is a couple of scenes that are written, acted, and filmed unbelievably well. The most notable of which is the last two minutes of the movie.

Fabulous nail-biter.

This movie is horrendous. They tell the most boring part of the story, the acting is TV melodrama grade, and the script is unintentionally hilarious. I am genuinely shocked that so many critics liked this movie! I tried so hard to be on board the first 20 minutes, but I could not stop myself from laughing. Cooper over acts, Linney phones it in and Phillepe and his wife are soooooooooo bad. Seriously, what movie are you people watching?… Expand

Our local (DC) movie ctitic (AC) who rarely is wrong (IMHO) gave this 4 stars. I decided to go see for myself, and give it a 9. The main appeal is the plot and central character- they're both real and not invented. Could have been a bit longer in developing the reasons why the central character did what he did, I subrtracted 1 point for that, otherwise it's worth the $ and time.

Cooper was fantastic.

Far superior to "The Good Shepherd," to which it has been compared, "Breach" is one of 2007's best films. It is extremely well written, acted, directed, edited and photographed. With all due respect to Chris Cooper, who has become one of the critics' darlings, let's not forget the excellent work done here by Laura Linney and Ryan Phillippe. She is as capable as ever, and he is one of our more underrated actors.… Expand

A little more study of evil would have made it work better. Fairly intense even though you know the end at the beginning.

Breach was suppose to be a gripping and heartwarming film like The Shawshank, but on the other hand, Billy Ray captures nobody in the audience from what I saw. Everyone was just cracking their heads, or slowly yawning, and most of the time people kept on looking at their cell phones to see what time it was. I was extremely anxious fro this film to be over with. Since the trailer looked so amazing and definitely a film to go see. I couldn't wait to see it. At first you really enjoy the script and the storyline as it impatiently moves along. And then you read all these wonderful reviews commented how good Chris Cooper did, which he did all right in his easy role. The first time you see it, you must see it in the theatres and that's when you'll say it was a great movie. Then I couldn't wait for it to come out, because its one of those films that at first you think its okay. But then you read all these dazzling reviews with a metascore of 74, then after a couple of weeks, you start agreeing with the critics. That's when you can't wait for it to come out. But when it came out, I gathered all the family members for a movie night to watch Breach. because at that time I thought it was brilliantly breathtaking. After the film starts, your smile turns into a yawn and all those wonderful actors playing in the film just threw their faces in a toilet and flushed it away. It was weak. The best and only part was when Eric didn't know which pocket his thingamabob went in. That was pretty thrilling. But the film just didn't capture me. The movie makes you so anxious for it to end and when it finally does, you'd rate it a high six or a low seven. But after I started reading some reviews again after a week, I thought of it differently. I thought it was a really good movie. The reason why I rated it a 5 is because I thought back of how weak and dull the film was, I just said you know what, I'm gonna give it a 5 and be done with it because when you read the reviews, you think its good, but when you watch it, its really unentertaining. I prayed for something to happen the first time I watched it but what I think was that Billy Ray was loosing time so he just quickly got it over with and arrested the damn boss. Just watch it once and never again.… Expand

It's really a great little film. Chris Cooper is definitely oscar-worthy in his performance of the high level traitor. Even Ryan F. gives an excellent performance. The one weak link in the film, to my surprise, is Caroline Dhavernas who was so damned funny in TV's "Wonderfalls." She just accepts her situation without much resistance, when I think an FBI wife might put up more of struggle. Anyway, if you're up for 2 hours of modern espionage, you'll go for this.… Expand

Over rated. Too much of it isn't believable. Not a bad movie, just over rated by the critics. Its a 50 out of 100, not a 70.

Movie was pretty uneventful, starts off slow and never really picks up any speed. No real suspense, drama or thrills. Besides Chris Coopers performance there is little else to get excited about in this movie.

It was decent, not great. to the person below complaining about seeing the boom in various shots, that was an issue with your movie theater, not the film. almost all films have shots with visible microphones, but theaters are supposed to place a mask on the projector to crop the image. next time you see that, i suggest you complain to the theater manager, not the filmmakers

Wonderful acting by both leads and an exciting script.

A decent psychological spy film that suffers from slow pacing.

Well acted, excellent cast. They are wasted in a painfully slow movie with a thin plot (It's a true story-maybe that's the problem). Wait for the DVD.

If you have seen the trailer for this, don't bother to see the movie. Chris Cooper is amazing, but the movie is transparent front to back. If someone can explain the reason for the character's sex tape, I'm waiting.

This movie almost made me sleep. The only "exciting" part was when the main character put the pda in the wrong pocket. Half the info about the case is still classified and they tried to make a movie about it?! I give it a 2, just because they tried, and it could've been better.

Just a very solid job all around.

More interesting than entertaining, Breach attempts (for the second time) to recreate the Robert Hanssen affair. I really enjoyed this movie. Like some of the other reviewers mentioned, the acting is superb. However, Breach is all story and no action, so I can see why some people might find this boring. While it's no The Good Shepherd, it is definitely worth seeing.

Chris Cooper is wasted in this movie, a fascinating real-life tale which relegates his character, Hansen, the FBI traitor, to a supporting role. The wooden Ryan Phillipe, a fresh-faced pretty boy protagonist, just doesn't have the chops to sell his role as a wannabe FBI agent. Equally awful is the (usually good) Laura Linney, who substitutes clipped speech and salty jargon in lieu of projecting any real authority. These two are miscast, but in many ways the real problem is script. The plotting fails to make anything of Hansen's actual breach, telling but not showing anything of it.… Expand

One of the best movies I have seen this year. Suspense in abundance.

So far the best picture I've seen in 2007, thanks to solid performances by the three leads, especially Chris Cooper as FBI operative Robert Hannsen. Excellent writing, direction and cinematography add up to a totally engrossing political thriller, heads above the overly-long, overly-ambitious The Good Shepherd. Bravo to all!

A all right drama movie with gripping scenes.

The mistake of reviewers who pan this film is their expecting something before entering the theater: cat-and-mouse action, a bright color palette, a plot that doubles back on itself, someone other than Ryan Phillippe, a need to understand the mystery of Hanssen, no Catholic bashing, a fast paced movie, etc. I hate slow pacing and dopey theatrics and The Good Shepherd takes the cake. This movie is one of a piece in terms of mood and tone. It has tension, but is able to make religiousity compelling. It is a story about being confused about what makes someone a good Catholic and a patriotic American. And you are going to be left with a mystery because this man is so tightly wound, even though there are sufficient clues. He has a mess of a personality, but no awareness of that. Instead, he projects that mess onto everyone else, with airtight logic that is only comprehensible to himself. That is what paranoia is all about. How do I know? I'm a psychiatrist and work in the DC area. If not paranoid, enough persons I have met who can't talk about their work, but you know where they work, ain't the life of the party. The core of this movie is both about a man (played with brilliant restrained tension by Chris Cooper") and about a good and idealistic boy who finds himself betraying those closest to him. Neither one believes he has a choice in the matter but to betray his country or betray those closest to him. This is a top ten film.… Expand

Oh, god, how much do I love spy movies with no car chase in them. Brilliant movie! More than brilliant Chris Cooper!

Could have enjoyed this more but Phillippe drags it down. Cooper is great!

Not bad...pretty suspensful....just hated seeing over a dozen microphone infractions at the top of the screen....the whole boom was in the frame during their visit to the CIA IT Servers...poor editting.

Tight, gripping FBI vs spy. It might seem a little slow in places, but give it patience. After all, it took years to catch the culprit and much of the time was spent with watching and waiting in suspense. Excellent performances throughout. You won't be disapointed!

Because it's a huge true story told with a reasonable amount of professionalism, it's entertaining enough, but this movie really should have been on cable. The director brought a greater sense of import to the story of a reporter lying about persoanal interest stories in "Shattered Glass," than he did here with perhaps the greatest traitor in US history; but then, he had Peter Sarsguard as his lead in that one.… Expand

Chris Cooper rocks this out. If you have an interest, defnitely catch it at some point.

More loose ends than you can shake a stick at, this movie worked and worked into a big fat nothing. A movie about espionage which attempts to wow you by delivering zero surprises when you expected many. Good acting dragged down by no coherent reasons for anything.

On February18,2001 Attorney General John Ashcroft made a public televised announcement that one of the FBI's highest ranking agents Robert Hanssen had been charged with selling American secrets to Russia for more than US$1.4 million in cash and diamonds over a 22-year period. On 6 July 2001, he pleaded guilty to fifteen counts of espionage. He was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His activities have been described as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history." Billy Ray’s “Breach" tells the events leading up to the capture of Robert Hanssen and how one lone rookie took down one of the most infamous traitors in American history. Billy Ray's film is a masterful execution of design and brilliant execution that ask one of the most dangerous questions, in a world where you have to lie to survive and the truth is lethal how can you trust those you know with he truth? Billy Ray's "Breach" is a film that works beyond the normal conventional trappings of other espionage thrillers it works like spy thrillers use to work before big explosive actions sequences, beautiful women, and mindless plot devices overrode ingenious plots twists, sharp writing, broad and haunted characters and compelling stories. "Breach" is a throw back to the brilliance of Cold War spy thrillers with a modern twist attached to it what makes this film work is not the story or the powerful intrigue, no. What drives this film what makes it work is the dark, complex interplay between the characters how they lie and manipulate one another for there own needs, Billy Ray crafts one of the most intricate and well rounded story of espionage, double dealings, treachery and deception. It is a story of how sometimes the ones you trust the most are the ones with the most secrets. "Breach" is a film that not only works on your senses it pulls you into a world, into a story that you could never have thought possible or even imagine was real it's a film so brilliant, so powerful that the minute it's over you'll want to see it again. This film is not a story about espionage or intrigue it is a story about people, real people and the choices they make the choices that affect the people around them, the people they love. That to me expresses more of the story's power than the films actual investigation into Robert Hanssen. Ray focuses more on how this investigation affected O'Neill and his wife more than how it all affected Hanssen, you know it doesn't bother Hanssen what he's doing or what he is about to do. We see he has no remorse for what he did or the lives he cost. It is how O'Neill works this story, how he is affected mentally and emotionally by the events that are transpiring. "Breach" is beyond a thriller it is almost like watching real events unfolding in front of you on screen. Billy Ray has transcended the original story and put to paper and then to the screen a story that seems to terrifying to believe "Breach" works on every level as a spy thriller, a character study and a cautionary tale. It is a flawless movie of perfect design and execution; it works like a nasty little machine toying with you every step of the way while you try to put the pieces together in the end. Billy Ray does not only use every feeling and emotion a human has he uses it to it’s full extent spreading it out like butter on a piece of toast, this film does not only work as a morality play, a story so refined and perfected that it transcends normal cinema and enters the realm of modern film classics… Expand