Breach

"How one man betrayed the security of a nation."

2007 1h 50m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 700

DramaThrillerCrimeHistory

Synopsis

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Eric O'Neill, a low-level surveillance expert with the FBI, believes he is accomplishing his dream of becoming a full-fledged agent, with his unexpected promotion and assignment to clerk for Robert Hanssen, a renowned senior agent with 25 years in the FBI. However, he soon learns the reason for his promotion is to gain Hanssen's trust and find proof that he is a traitor to the country. Determined to draw the suspected double-agent out of deep cover, O'Neill finds himself in a lethal game of spy vs. spy, where nothing is as it seems.

“How one man betrayed the security of a nation.”

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Cast

Chris Cooper
Robert Hanssen
Ryan Phillippe
Eric O'Neill
Laura Linney
Kate Burroughs
Caroline Dhavernas
Juliana O'Neill
Gary Cole
Rich Garces
Dennis Haysbert
Dean Plesac
Kathleen Quinlan
Bonnie Hanssen
Bruce Davison
John O'Neill

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Billy Ray
Writers: Adam Mazer, William L. Rotko, Billy Ray
Languages: English, Russian, Arabic, Latin
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, Russian, Arabic, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Billy Ray, shot by Tak Fujimoto. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jeffrey Ford shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "How one man betrayed the security of a nation.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0401997 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Billy Ray directs. Tak Fujimoto behind the camera. Mychael Danna scores. Jeffrey Ford cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian, Arabic, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 19 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, Russian, Arabic, Latin.
3Directed by Billy Ray, shot by Tak Fujimoto. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Jeffrey Ford shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "How one man betrayed the security of a nation.".
8IMDB entry: tt0401997 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 18 themes, including "undercover", "spy", "fbi", "loyalty".

The technical file

Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto
Original score: Mychael Danna
Editing: Jeffrey Ford
Production design: Wynn Thomas
VFX supervisor: Gregory D. Liegey
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $23,000,000
Box office: $41,000,000
Return: 178% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Breach (2007)

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Billy Ray

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-01-19
★ 7/10
Though never really very versatile, Ryan Philippe delivers quite well in this fact-based drama about one of the most famous cases of espionage to ever happen in the USA. O'Neill is a tech specialist with aspirations to be an agent who is selected by Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney) for a very unique task. He is to work with the long established Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) on devising new ways to keep their systems safe from hackers. What we, and they, know is that Hanssen is suspected of being a mole, and a pretty darned substantial one at that. It's going to fall to O'Neill to try and find a way past the formidable defences of his new boss in the hope that they can entrap him. This won't be an easy task as Hanssen is a shrewd man, probably the most shrewd in the Bureau. Obviously this is a top secret mission, so he can't tell wife Juliana (Catherine Dhavernas) anything about what's going on - and that puts predictable strain on their marriage, especially as he begins to make some progress on a mark who likes nothing better than cat and mouse games - even with his own side! The story was huge news so there's not so much jeopardy, nor does Billy Ray really try to manufacture any. It's more a study of characterisations and Philippe and Cooper perform quite strongly on that front with some lively tit-for-tat dialogue and smouldering views on repressed religiosity. It could maybe lose ten minutes, but once it gets going it's quite a well paced thriller worth a watch.

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