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Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this fact-based spy thriller probably won't be too appealing to most teens. It features some frank discussion of an FBI agent's supposed "sex perversions," with reference to tapes and Internet porn. There's also lots of deception, fretting about deception, and arguing about deception, as well as discussion of the effects of Hanssen's betrayals, including dead agents and national security breaches. A strictly Catholic agent demeans women in pantsuits (he calls them "Hillary" and "lesbians"). Following a couple of conversations about the FBI being a "gun culture," a tense, angry scene shows one man threatening to shoot another. Some language (one "f--k," plus other profanity like "s--t" and "damn").
Families can talk about the costs -- emotional, professional, political, and spiritual -- of being a professional spy. What would it be like to lie for a living, even if you believed in what you were doing wholeheartedly? Does Eric make correct the moral decisions? How can you define what's "correct"? Does Hanssen's Catholicism affect your opinion of him? How? How accurate do you think the movie is? How could you go about finding out more about Hanssen and what he did?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
A combination spy thriller and character study, BREACH is based on the true story of spy Robert Hanssen, who was arrested in 2001 for treason and sentenced to life in prison. In the movie version, the case breaks when young agent Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is assigned to keep track of Hanssen's movements.
Posing as Hanssen's assistant at a new, bogus FBI office, Eric is initially kept in the dark by his superior, Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney). She tells him that Hanssen (played brilliantly by Chris Cooper) is suspected of "sexual perversions," which he hides behind a strictly Catholic façade. As Eric is both ambitious and looking for some sort of moral order in the shadowy world of the FBI, he comes to admire Hanssen's seeming adherence to rules and beliefs. He tells Kate that "I'm starting to think I might not be the right person for this."
Kate sets Eric straight by cluing him in to the rest of the case (Hanssen was responsible for some 20 years' worth of leaks to the Russians, leading to many agents' deaths), and suddenly the young agent sees his part in this monumental takedown as crucial to national security.
Eric and Hanssen's relationship -- which, ironically, is full of distrust even though both men yearn to be able to come clean -- isn't unlike the one in director Billy Ray's previous cat-and-mouse saga, Shattered Glass, about duplicitous magazine writer Stephen Glass. Like that film, Breach focuses on the men's tight, tense association, as each suffers differently for the lies he's forced to tell. In both movies, parallel investigations and multiple layers of deceit are galvanized by smart, taut, mostly understated performances.
Yet Breach can't get around the mystery that Hanssen presents. Much as Eric embodies a stalwart, if fretful, morality (he worries about lying to his wife), Hanssen remains a cipher, apparently untroubled by his lies and hypocrisies (and you never know what his seemingly subservient wife, played by Kathleen Quinlan, knows or thinks about his betrayals). Though Hanssen disdains most FBI regulations (especially the fact that female agents wear pantsuits), he's adapted well to what he calls the Bureau's "gun culture." And though Eric mocks Hanssen's stiffness, the younger man is also impressed by his sensitivity (when he learns that Eric's mother has Parkinson's, Hanssen researches the illness) and spiritual dedication ("God expects you to live your faith at all times").
Eric's own betrayals -- of his wife, Hanssen, his own ethical code -- appear to be heroic in a traditional sense, yet the movie shows repeatedly that he feels terrible about his choices. Breach uses some predictable plot structures, including speedy crosscutting during a scene in which Eric must delay Hanssen's return to the office, a sensational showdown in the dark woods, and heavy-handed religious iconography to pass judgment on Hanssen. If only the movie had trusted Cooper's subtle performance, allowing that to convey the suspense.
If you enjoy Breach, you might also want to explore the story of the real Robert Hanssen (see CNN's story and the FBI's press release). Or try other spy movies, like The Falcon and the Snowman and Hitchcock's Notorious. And for pure spy escapism, you can't go wrong with TV's Alias.
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Sexual ContentReferences to Hanssen's "sex perversions" (online porn sites, adultery); Hanssen expresses dislike of "lesbians" (i.e. "unfeminine" women) on TV; image of Hanssen and wife in bed (she's in a slip; the scene later appears briefly on a tape that Hanssen is sending to a contact, and Juliana sees). |
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ViolenceDiscussions of agents who have died because of Hanssen's betrayals; brief images of bodies and blood; stash of weapons discovered in spy's car; shooting range scenes; climactic argument has one character shooting a gun at another repeatedly (missing, but threatening); final takedown involves an armed team. |
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LanguageSome language, including one use of "f--k," as well as "hell," "dumbass," "bulls--t," and "goddamn it." Other colorful phrases include "pissing purple for a week," "take a s--t." Some homophobic language ("f-g"). |
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Social BehaviorEveryone lies: Spies spy on one another, deceive one another, and plan for one another's destruction. The protagonist discovers that it doesn't matter which "side" he lies for because he feels bad about lying, period. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoDiscussion of favorite drinks (vodka martini, scotch). |
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