Breach is based on the true story of Robert Hanssen (played by Chris Cooper), an FBI agent who was arrested in early 2001 and charged with spying on the United States over a fifteen year period for the Soviet Union and Russia.

FBI agent Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is selected by his superiors to keep an eye on Hanssen while they compile evidence in their case against him. The two actors give convincing performances that carry the movie.

Even though Breach was based on real events, the movie’s director — Billy Ray — could have made the material more interesting. While there were a few moments that produced a smile or a laugh, they were few and far between. The movie was laid out very methodically, in a “First, A happens, and then B happens, and then C” and so on.

The introduction of O’Neill’s father into the movie was unexpected, and served no real purpose other than to reinforce the theme of patriotism and serving one’s country that was dominant throughout the movie. He is introduced towards the end of the movie, with no real build up, and then he is not mentioned again once the sequence is finished.

Even though it is obvious that Eric’s role in the case to bring Hanssen down is putting a strain on his relationship with his wife, that tension only really comes out in one full out argument that the two of them have. O’Neill’s interactions with his boss (Laura Linney) seem to portray the lives of FBI agents as stark and lacking in something more than just work. It is interesting to notice how, while Linney’s character seems to have chosen a career over marriage and the possibility of a family, O’Neill does just the opposite — at the end of the film, he resigns from his position in the FBI and goes on the practice law in Washington D.C.

Hanssen is portrayed in this movie as doing what he did because he wanted to matter, to have a legacy and be remembered. He will be remembered, but not for the reasons that he wanted.