Breach (2007)

Chris Cooper is just so good as the entirely unlikable Robert Hanssen. I especially loved the way he was always crowding his clerk against the wall as they walked side-by-side through halls -- just a totally inhabited portrayal of a guy who truly gives those he categorizes as beneath him (which is just about everyone) no consideration at all. I couldn't help but wonder whether that was Cooper's idea, the script's, or if it was an actual habit of Hanssen. Whichever it was -- the choice to include it here really served the story and portrait of this man.

Despite the fact that pretty much everyone who will see this movie already knows what happened, it still manages to be a pretty gripping political thriller. I was noticeably tense several times during the viewing. The near misses worked, even as I could consciously identify them as manipulative.

There's one scene near the end where there's this big confrontation. Again, I found myself wondering whether it was invention or something that actually happened. Regardless of where it came from, the scene felt unbelievable and overwrought-- and this is unfortunate since it's a pivotal scene which forces the main relationship forward. Just one flawed scene in a film with so many marvelous ones, but it's a biggie which brings the film down quite a bit.

B