The Story: To be completely honest, I did not remember this story until I started hearing about the release of the movie. Robert Hanssen was responsible for one of the biggest security breaches in our government's history, which cost the country millions and actually some people's lives. I will get into more of that when I get to the plot line. Breach stars Ryan Philipe (Cruel Intentions, Crash), my boy Chris Cooper (Adaptation) and Laura Linney (Man of the Year).

As I stated above, this is a true story. Robert Hanssen, who is portrayed in the flick by Chris Cooper, was part of the Soviet Analytical Unit for almost his entire career as an F.B.I. agent. His job was to "out-think" Russian spies, which obviously was an overall job of protecting the U.S. government from an attack. The F.B.I. soon found out that Hanssen was actually selling U.S. secrets to the Russians. These were not just small secrets. During the flick, they run down a list of some of the secrets he gave away; one being where the President and Vice President go for hiding during a nuclear attack on the U.S. Basically, this guy was handing over the U.S. to the Russians piece by piece.

According to the movie, Robert Hanssen was physically apprehended by the F.B.I. on Sunday February 18th, 2001. The flick opens with John Ashcroft giving a speech about Robert Hanssen being caught and then the movie jumps back two months to show you how. This is where Ryan Philipe comes into the picture. He plays a guy named Eric O'Neill and he is your typical young guy who wants to become an F.B.I. field agent. The F.B.I. assigns him to keep an eye of Hanssen's every move so that the F.B.I. can eventually catch Hanssen in the act and arrest him. I will leave the rest of the plot for you to see and since this is a 4.5 BDK rated film, you better be getting off your ass to see in theatres.

The Review: Overall, this flick is just phenomenal and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the final minute. You have to understand how awkward it is to actually watch these scenes between Philipe (O'Neill) and Cooper (Hanssen). Since Cooper does not know he is being investigated, and the audience does, it creates an overall intense mood. I really thought that

Ryan Philipe gave one of the best performances of his career.

Chris Cooper played a hell of a part too, considering Robert Hanssen was a very interesting person. From the movie, you can tell he was very sarcastic and almost hated the F.B.I. I personally have no recollection of who he actually is, but Cooper did play one hell of a part. One of my favorite things about the film was the fact that it was all shot mostly in Washington D.C. That is an obvious fact though, considering the entire story took place in D.C. Most movies these days do not actually film where they actually take place because of budget reasons, etc. It appeared that

almost every shot in this film was done in Washington D.C.

I can not even tell you how many shots there were of these actors walking out of the real metro stations. I remember a specific scene when one of the characters walked out of the Federal Triangle metro station. To me, it made the movie a little more personable, considering I live in the DC area. I personally think that it will make you appreciate the film even more.

The Verdict: This is seriously one hell of a story and you should definitely be seeing this in theatres. It is extremely intense and you are always wondering what is going to happen next, even though the story is already known to the general public. I found myself questioning scenes that I already knew the outcome of, because I was so wrapped up in the movie.

I give this movie 4.5 BDKs because I feel that it should be seen in theatres, either during a matinee show or a regular night-time show.

Note: I want everyone who sees this movie to pay attention to the last shot of the film. E-mail me at bdk@bdkreviews.com and let me know whether or not you thought it was a good or cheesy moment. I personally found the scene to be unnecessary and a little bit cheesy.

Go to BDK's website.