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Mary Jo Deschanel, Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert ... see more see more... , Gary Cole , Caroline Dhavernas , Bruce Davison , Kathleen Quinlan , , Aaron Abrams , Jonathan Keltz

Shattered Glass director Billy Ray directs Chris Cooper and Ryan Philippe in this fact-based drama concerning the FBI traitor who carried out what many historians refer to as the most notable national... read more read more... security breach in U.S. history. A key member of the FBI's elite Soviet Analytical Unit, Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) would, for 15 years beginning in 1985, sell thousands of pages of classified documents to the Soviets. After making roughly 600,000 dollars on his clandestine endeavor and compromising everything from the identities of KGB spies working for the American government to nuclear war contingency plans, Hanssen was eventually transferred to a newly created position at the FBI's Washington headquarters and assigned the task of guarding his country's most sensitive secrets. It was while working in this capacity that a young agent named Eric O'Neill (Phillipe) was assigned the task of keeping tabs on Hanssen by suspicious higher-ups. Later, after being arrested while delivering a cache of secret documents to a "dead drop" spot in a Virginia park, the notorious traitor was arrested and sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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65% liked it

360,863 ratings

Critics

84% liked it

176 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Billy Ray

Release Date: February 16, 2007

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DVD Release Date: June 12, 2007

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Stats: 15,980 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (15,980)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 18, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Breach is a very intense film based on the true story of Robert Hansen who commited the worst breach in US history. For over twenty years, Robert Hansen sold secrets to the Russians. Breach is the story that tells of investigation to catch Robert Hansen. A phenomenal Thriller tha... read moret will keep you on the edge of your seat, Breach is one terrific film with a great cast. The film doesn't have action, but it more than makes up for it in thrills. A terrific film based on a shocking true story.
  • Chiefilms
    January 30, 2010
    Chiefilms
    Chris Cooper is solid always, Ryan Phillippe is liquid gay, I wonder who's the gas? Dat's me.
  • fb619846742
    December 4, 2009
    fb619846742
    A solid, very well-acted governmental drama based on a true story of an FBI agent who got caught selling secrets to the Russians. The film follows a young, kind of hot-shot (Phillippe) whose stone-cold face make the paranoid and usually grumpy veteran agent (Cooper) susceptible t... read moreo trusting him, when it turns out that young agent is out to burn him. It's mostly interesting to see the interactions between the two agents, as well as how the weathered veteran starts to break down and trust the one man he shouldn't be trusting. Chris Cooper turns in a simply outstanding performance. He captures the inner guilt as well as the pain and hypocrisy his character is undoubtedly feeling. Phillippe is also does an admirable job.
  • smith44
    June 7, 2009
    smith44
    Based on the true life events surrounding America's worst spy Robert Hannsen, who's actions, led to the deaths of three covert US agents in the Soviet Union and the full damage cost of his information leakings is unknown, but believed to be in the billions. At it's heart Breach i... read mores a spy thriller of the highest pedigree. Tense, compelling, gripping, unnerving, and very understated. The film relies heavily on suspence and the central character, of the story, Hanssen, played by a genius Chris Cooper who's performance is Oscar worthy. The film would easily have become mundane, had a weaker actor played the part. Cooper creates almost a second Hannibal, a murderous monster with higher things on his mind than killing, a cultured, genius and importantly a devoultly religious man. A member of the Catholic organization Opus Dei, and a fervent Catholic, Hanssen's character thickens as more layers are developed. Everyone, as the detective Eric (played by Ryan Phillippe) says 'mis-read him', from the CIA themselves, to Eric and to the audience. How can such a seemingly good man be so bad? Yet apperances aren't what they seem, and so the fun begins. The film works up to a grand finale, in which the audience is worked up with it. Like a Hitcockian film, suspence builds to a crachendo and explodes with power, then resolves. Importantly Breach doesn't give you the one thing your left dying for, a real glimpse into the mind of America's worst spy. As Hanssen himself says "The why doesn't matter really, does it?"
  • Deano78
    July 4, 2008
    Deano78
    A good film, well made, based on a true story. Just a pity there isn't a little more action or tension. The subject might be a tad boring for some and the film is very slowly paced.
  • TheMachinist
    June 30, 2008
    TheMachinist
    An outstanding performance by Chris Cooper. He makes his character very interesting which can't be said about Ryan Philippe. This is all about the "worst spy in US history", Robert Hanssen.

    The movie is tense with a truly interesting story. Highly recommended.
  • jjnxn
    February 25, 2008
    jjnxn
    Interesting story and very good performances from Laura Linney and Chris Cooper, would have been so much better with a stronger actor in the lead than the vapid Phillippe.
  • CrookedlittleB33
    February 10, 2008
    CrookedlittleB33
    Not bad, not bad at all.
    Review...tbc.
  • deano
    January 27, 2008
    deano
    Dull true story of the greatest security breach in U.S. intelligence history with too much investigations and talks.
  • bbcfloridabound
    December 22, 2007
    bbcfloridabound
    Great Flix, One of the better CIA/FBI Films that have been out there in years. Worth the Buy

View All Breach Reviews

Critic Reviews

Andrew Sarris
March 21, 2007
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Ultimately, the movie soars because of the inspired casting of Chris Cooper as Hanssen.

Jonathan F. Richards
February 23, 2007
Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com

(Chris Cooper)is the principal reason why this unspectacular, low-key study of the Hanssen national security fiasco is so effective. Full Review

Tom Charity
February 17, 2007
Tom Charity, CNN.com

Ray's careful emphasis on authenticity over thrills and psychology over action is impeded by this narrative's narrow window: there's so much we can't know about what Hanssen did and why. Full Review

James Berardinelli
February 17, 2007
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Breach is competently made but, aside from Cooper's performance, there's nothing here worth getting excited about. Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
February 16, 2007
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

An uncompromising study in the gradual decay of a soul. Full Review

Claudia Puig
February 16, 2007
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Though you know from the start just how it's going to end, Breach, based on the true story of a treasonous FBI operative, is an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Full Review

Geoff Pevere
February 16, 2007
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

Breach is a movie tailor-made for the age of intelligence failure. Full Review

Richard Schickel
February 16, 2007
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

Subtle, complex, bleakly funny at times, but always utterly enveloping, one of the great studies in profoundly abnormal psychology. Full Review

Ruthe Stein
February 16, 2007
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle

Breach suffers from lavishing so much attention on a relatively minor figure. Full Review

Peter Travers
February 16, 2007
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Just when you're thinking every new American film belongs in the Bomb Squad, along comes Breach to win one for our side.

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Breach Trivia

  • Who was married to Reese witherspoon? started in Cruel Intentions Got divorced and its started in the movie Breach   Answer »
  • Chris Cooper playsa real FBI turncoat,Robert Hanssen.It shows him as an ordinary person with common problems. This one word titled 2007 movie is __   Answer »
  • Name the actor who plays Robert Hanssen in the 2007 film "Breach".  Answer »
  • Eric O'neil quit the FBI after Robert Hansen was arrested in the movie "Breach"  Answer »
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