breach

[pete]

trailer here

Based on the true story, FBI upstart Eric O'Neill enters into a power game with his boss, Robert Hanssen, an agent who was ultimately convicted of selling secrets to the Soviet Union.

I just came back from this.  I talked to my movie theater friends in boston who'd drunkenly recommended me this film.  I went into it knowing nothing of it, but immediately I thought how it resembled Shattered Glass.  I was right, I guess it was Billy Ray's second picture.  It was another based on true story movie that took place in Washington and involved lies.  This was a thriller in the same way Shattered Glass was, how it wasn't so much about lives at stake (though this one could very much be considered as such--the movie just didn't play out that way) but about people and their deceptions--their self images, the truths, and how the two were at war.
It's good, Billy Ray's really good at building tension solely through good performances from great actors, and he capped off this film with an exchange that was as satisfying as the Peter Sarsgaard's with Chloe Sevigny in Shattered Glass. 
Check it out, it's one of those non-quirky small films that are small for economical reasons, and it's way more reminiscent of the glorious old spy movies than any bullshit george clooney or sodenburgh pet gimmicks.

[polkablues]

Yeah, I really liked this movie.  The most impressive part was how Chris Cooper brought so many layers to the character, and how Billy Ray continues to be able to write stories about people in offices and make them suspenseful and dramatically fulfilling.  AND it has Caroline Dhavernas, in the first major role I've seen her in since "Wonderfalls" was cut so tragically short.  Big ups all around.

[hedwig]

i loved this movie. it's more complex than Shat Glass in exploring the theme of deception with so many compounding layers, and equally suspenseful/emotionally satisfying to watch the characters try to keep everything together. and what a GREAT chris cooper performance. ryan phillipe was also good but he came off as a lightweight compared to cooper. awesome ending too.

[MacGuffin]

Hmmmm... We must have different ideas about suspense because I thought film completely lacked it. It seemed so very easy on how to spy on "the biggest spy in US history." I felt it failed to detail the extremity of what Hanssen was doing; that, for a MacGuffin that was really about these two men, the 'why' was completely thrown away. And I did admire the relationship between Hanssen and O'Neill, but the movie never really made me feel how deep it was weighing on O'Neill. I did like how religion played a very big part on the characters, though. Overall, I thought it was good, but I can't really call it a thriller.

[picolas]

spoils

it had a good beginning, but after you found out who Cooper was i wasn't a fan. the writing was pretty lazy ("SHUT THE FUCK UP!" was a stupid line, and there was lots of other not very character or situation-specific stuff.) i didn't like Linney's performance at all and i found the ending too perfect/coincidental but Cooper did give a great performance/face. there was a great moment in the correspondence when Cooper was standing on the bridge wondering about an escape plan.

[Gold Trumpet]

Overall, I thought it was good, but I can't really call it a thriller.

I'd call it more of a drama. The lack of surprise or unpredictability was obvious, but the film was great as a character drama. The most important component was the story of Cooper's character. At the beginning he is in control and confident of his abilities, but the stressful activies and pressures around him slowly begin to break him down. His devotion to God explains his arrogance but his continous outbursts shows his lack of control. The film is about his submission to defeat.

The twists and the close encounters to getting caught are there, but the film is so devoid of suspenceful over produced camera techniques and more focused on following the characters and allowing Cooper's performance to breathe that I believe the film in the end wanted to be a drama.

[MacGuffin]

Also, forgot to mention...

Has it really come to this now?

Bonus Features: "Anatomy of a Character" brought to you by Volkswagen