Breach

Theatrical Release Date: 2007 02 16 (USA)

UPC: 025193227720

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence, Profanity, Sexual Situations]

Summary: 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 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

Category: Spy Film

Features: Over 18 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes
Breaching the truth: Get an insider's look at how Robert Hanssen's story was brought to the screen
Anantomy of a character - brought to you by Volkswagen: A powerful look at how Chris Cooper became Robert Hanssen for the film
"The Mole" as originally aired on Dateline 3/05/01: Uncover more intriguing facts about double agent Robert Hanssen in this in-depth profile
Feature commentary: With writer/director Billy Ray and former FBI operative Eric O'Neill

Breach

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/12/2007

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 111 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: Spanish,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Breach
1. A Dangerous World [5:24]
2. Tasked to Headquarters [4:31]
3. Meet the New Boss [5:21]
4. Five Things [6:14]
5. FBI Culture [3:14]
6. Protocol [3:19]
7. Godliness [5:43]
8. Testing People [5:28]
9. In the Middle [4:16]
10. Read In [5:03]
11. Thinking of Quitting [6:04]
12. Dangerous Download [8:09]
13. Power Play [8:56]
14. Is It Worth It? [5:35]
15. Being Isolated [4:42]
16. Can I Trust You? [10:05]
17. A Sad Day [5:56]
18. Why Spy? [2:08]
19. Walk Away [4:10]
20. End Titles [5:31]

Craig Butler

Following the well-received Shattered Glass (2003), screenwriter Billy Ray continues his transition into a noteworthy directing career with another fact-based account of a con man whose web of lies caused calamitous damage to a venerable institution. Breach (2006) is touted as the true story of "master spy" Robert Hanssen, an FBI functionary whose sale of intelligence secrets over 22 years at the end of the Cold War constituted American history's single worst violation of government security. In truth, Ray's film is not really about Hanssen, who is a supporting character; the film's protagonist is Eric O'Neill, the baby-faced intelligence gatherer assigned to pose as Hanssen's assistant during the intense month-long investigation that resulted in his boss' arrest. Breach suffers slightly from its focus on the less-interesting of its two main characters, but less so because the bland rectitude of O'Neill is wisely presented as exactly the quality that allows him to succeed in ensnaring Hanssen, whose many self-delusions include the notion that he is highly moral. Ray's directing style is restrained but intelligent, yielding center stage to his actors, whose performances are exceptional. Chris Cooper chooses the route of conveying the essence of Hanssen without overly imitating the man's specific traits; his work is a study in subtlety and nuance, outwardly embodying a man whose contradictions are almost completely internal. Laura Linney verges on parodying the secret-agent stereotype in a straight-razor style that would fit equally well in a Bureau training film or a cheeky episode of The X-Files. As the moon-faced, mouth-breathing O'Neill, star Ryan Phillippe is batted about by his co-stars like a pair of lethal jungle pumas toying with their cub, but this quality is, like the film itself, clearly intentional and thoroughly enjoyable. Breach is a low-key, quietly attenuated film that represents masterful work of substance over style by everyone involved. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Billy Ray  Director 
Billy Ray  Screenwriter 
Mychael Danna  Composer (Music Score) 
William Horberg  Executive Producer 
Scott Kroopf  Producer 
Adam Merims  Executive Producer 
Bobby Newmyer  Producer 
Scott Strauss  Producer 
Sidney Kimmel  Executive Producer 
Adam Mazer  Screenwriter 
Bill Rotko  Screenwriter 
Mary Jo Deschanel  Actor 
Chris Cooper  Actor 
Ryan Phillippe  Actor 
Laura Linney  Actor 
Dennis Haysbert  Actor 
Gary Cole  Actor 
Caroline Dhavernas  Actor 
Bruce Davison  Actor 
Kathleen Quinlan  Actor 

Country: USA