Breach | |
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Original theatrical poster
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Directed by | Billy Ray |
Produced by | Scott Kroop Adam Merims Scott Strauss |
Written by | Billy Ray Adam Mazer William Rotko |
Starring |
Chris Cooper Ryan Phillippe Laura Linney Dennis Haysbert Caroline Dhavernas Gary Cole |
Music by | Mychael Danna |
Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
Edited by | Jeffrey Ford |
Production
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date
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February 16, 2007 |
Running time
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110 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $23 million |
Box office | $41 million |
Breach is a 2007 American historical and political thriller film directed by Billy Ray. The screenplay by Ray, Adam Mazer and William Rotko is based on the true story of Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia for more than two decades, and Eric O'Neill, who worked as his assistant and helped bring about his downfall. O'Neill served as a consultant on the film. The film received generally positive reviews.
Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is a young FBI employee assigned to work undercover as a clerk to Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), a senior agent he is told is suspected of being a sexual deviant. Hanssen has been recalled from a detail post at the State Department to FBI headquarters ostensibly to head up a new division specializing in Information Assurance. Initially, Hanssen insists on a strict formality between the two men. He frequently rails against the bureaucracy of the FBI and complains that only those who regularly "shoot guns" are considered for senior positions instead of those, like himself, who are involved in vital national security matters. He calls the bureau's information technology systems antiquated and laments the lack of coordination and information exchange with other intelligence agencies.
Eventually, Hanssen becomes a friend and mentor to O'Neill and takes a personal interest in him and his wife Juliana (Caroline Dhavernas), who is suspicious of Hanssen and resents his intrusions. A devout Catholic who is also a member of Opus Dei, Hanssen urges O'Neill, a lapsed Catholic, and his secular East German-born wife to become active churchgoers.