Breach

This tightly focused thriller, built around the top-secret investigation of a rogue FBI agent, tells the true-life story of Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper in an Oscar-worthy performance), who spied for the Russians over a period of several years before being caught. As the film opens, the Bureau—already aware of Hanssen's treachery—assigns unwitting rookie agent Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) to work undercover as Hanssen's assistant, initially telling O'Neill that he's gathering information on Hanssen's suposedly deviant behavior. The young O'Neill grows more and more conflicted because the admittedly eccentric Hanssen appears to be a dedicated family man and devout Catholic. Although Phillippe simply lacks the chops to adequately portray O'Neill (and he's certainly no match for Cooper, who practically blows him off the screen in every scene in which they appear together), director Billy Ray deftly orchestrates the series of revelations regarding key facts about the spy in this otherwise solid espionage flick. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director Billy Ray and former FBI operative Eric O'Neill, the Dateline episode “The Mole” on double agent Robert Hanssen (19 min.), eight deleted scenes with optional commentary (12 min.), the 11-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “Breaching the Truth,” “Anatomy of a Character” on star Chris Cooper (7 min.), two alternate scenes (6 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid thriller.] (E. Hulse)