The 2007 thriller Breach is based on the true events surrounding one of our nation’s biggest security breaches. Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is an aspiring FBI clerk who eagerly wants to become an agent. But when he’s called into the head office, Special Agent Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney) assigns him the task of trying to get some dirt on a 25-year veteran of the Bureau, Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper). Burroughs says that Hanssen is a sexual deviant whose actions could cause some embarrassment for the Bureau. Hanssen is a generally well-regarded agent who spent the past 20 years as the head of Soviet Analytical Unit. Hanssen has now been assigned to head up the new Information Assurance Division, and O’Neill is to go undercover as his assistant. Robert Hanssen is a tough, no-nonsense guy who doesn’t seem to initially take a liking to Eric. He’s a stickler for protocol and following the rules, and is an extremely sharp and observant guy. Eric realizes that his mission is going to be a lot tougher than he initially expected when, on the first day, Hanssen scolds Eric for entering his office, despite the fact that Eric hadn’t physically touched anything. How did he know?!

As the days pass, Ryan doesn’t see any evidence of this sexual deviancy he’s been assigned to look into. Instead, Hanssen appears to be an overly-religious man who likes to stick to the rules and has Puritan ideals. In fact, Hanssen has even taken an unhealthy interest in Eric’s own spiritual wellbeing upon discovering the fact that Eric is Catholic and had a Jesuit education. Hanssen is constantly suggesting that Eric pray, and insists that Eric and his wife Juliana (Caroline Dhavernas, Mary Kills People) join him and his own wife Bonnie (Kathleen Quinlan) for Sunday mass. While this is all a bit creepy, it still doesn’t add up to sexual deviancy, and so Eric insists on learning the truth about his mission—that Hanssen is possibly the perpetrator of the largest security breach in U.S. history, selling secrets and selling out assets and agents to the Russians for decades. Eric must try to win Hanssen’s trust and play along with his mind games long enough to get enough evidence and catch Hanssen in the act. However, the secrets he’s keeping, and Hanssen’s lack of boundaries are also starting to affect Eric’s home life. Will he be able to maintain his cover and complete his mission?

Breach is taut thriller, with stellar performances by Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe. Hanssen is this enigma, and it’s never clear what he does or doesn’t know. There are several tense close calls where the clock is ticking and it looks like this time Hanssen is going to catch Eric in the act, but some ingenious quick thinking helps to avoid detection. At the same time, there are moments when it looks like the FBI have things figured out, but Hanssen proves to be a bit unpredictable, or wiser than they thought. The film also explores how this case starts to affect Eric’s home life with his wife. Hanssen has started to assert himself and his beliefs onto the O’Neills. Juliana doesn’t understand why her husband is allowing this to happen, and Eric’s not at liberty to explain. However, at the same time, Eric has seen what keeping these kinds of secrets has done to other agents’ relationships. Laura Linney delivers a strong performance as the impassioned agent in charge of the case to take down Hanssen, who also serves as a bit of a cautionary tale to Eric. Special Agent Burroughs assures Eric that eventually his wife will just learn to live with and accept these lies, but Eric’s not so sure he wants her to. The film also finds some recognizable actors playing some of the other agents working on the case, such as Gary Cole (mixed-ish) and Dennis Haysbert (24), and Bruce Davison playing Eric’s father John O’Neill. I have seen this film several times over the past 13 years, and still enjoy it each time. The only thing that feels a bit dated is the technology—Eric carries a pager to keep in contact with Burroughs, and there are some big scenes revolving around a Palm Pilot and a VHS tape. However, sometimes the lack of modern technology makes these kind of spy thrillers even more exciting due to the fact that people aren’t immediately reachable if something doesn’t go as planned, or if someone is suddenly in danger of being found out and needs to be warned.

Breach was first released on disc in HD on the now-extinct HD-DVD format, and then finally hit Blu-ray last April from Universal. This week, Mill Creek has re-released the film on Blu-ray at more affordable price, but unfortunately losing all of the extensive bonus material (feature commentary, deleted/alternate scenes and several other featurettes) that had appeared on the previous home video releases. The technical presentation of this new Blu-ray is excellent, with a pristine picture that captures tremendous detail in faces and textures, and utilizes a beautiful, warm color palette that gives the film a very cinematic feel. While the movie is very dialogue-heavy, the audio track does a great job of providing ambiance, and presenting the film’s excellent score, which helps to add tension and emotion. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover, and there is no bonus material or digital copy included. Those who wish to own a version with the bonus material may want to pick up Universal’s previous Blu-ray release, though at nearly twice the price of Mill Creek’s more affordable re-release.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:49:54)

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

This release contains no bonus material.

Final Thoughts:

Breach is a tense and exciting cat-and-mouse spy thriller spearheaded by two excellent lead performances. Mill Creek’s new Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, and comes at an affordable price, but unfortunately this disc drops all of the bonus material that had been included on the previous home video releases. It’s a shame that that material couldn’t have been included here, otherwise it would have been a slam dunk recommendation. That said, the release still comes recommended based on the quality of the presentation and of the film itself, though die hard fans may want to spend the extra money on the previous Universal Blu-ray release to get the bonus material if they don’t already own it on another format.