Breach

For those who prefer their espionage cold BREACH will be a breath of icey fresh air. Based on the true story of America's most devastating mole and how a veteran team with the help of a green operative orchestrated his downfall BREACH manages some tense moments while staying entirely believable. For this reason some may find it a bit tedious but I suggest doing your utmost to surmount this reaction as the picture contains many gems the biggest being Chris Cooper. As the double agent Robert Hanssen he gives a menacing and authentic performance, up there with his finest work and this floats BREACH across it's ponds of weakness. While Laura Linney is a great actress she is slightly miscast and you will tempted to think the same of Ryan Phillippe as the young Eric O'Neill. This is only writer Billy Ray's second film in te big chair but he does a great job on evolving Phillippe from the new bright eyed kid to quickly jaded man with precision and the effect is a powerful one. While there are no great surprises story wise in BREACH is does work as a taught character study and if you get a chance to grab a cheap copy on DVD do so as the extras are a grande compliment to the film down to DATELINE's MOLE episode and a full commentary with Ray and the real like Eric O'Neill.