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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Movie Preview: Breach



The other movie to be reviewed this week is Breach.
And again of a differing genre.
Breach is drama, suspense and based on a true espionage.
It stars Academy Award winner (Best Supporting Actor) Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney.

Sounds uninteresting? I thought so.
It's another low key movie I've picked for this week alongside The Last Mimzy.
The reason being that one is about family and children and the other about ethics and moral, subjects that are of importance in life.



So what about Breach?
Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe), a young FBI trainee has been handpicked to work under veteran FBI agent Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper). Unknown to Hanssen, O'Neill is actually working for Special Agent Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney), who is investigating Hanssen under suspicion that he is a potential mole for the Soviet Union.
What would follow is a dangerous game of one against the other.
Lives are at risk.



What to watch for? or more significantly who to watch for?
He's not exactly your usual screen idol and neither is he charismatic nor handsome but Chris Cooper plays Robert Hanssen, the real life double agent who was captured on 18 Feb 2001, months before the tragic 911 event that rocked the United States as well as the world.
The importance on security has never been greater.
Robert Hanssen was charged and sentenced to life imprisonment for selling American secrets to Moscow over a 15-year period for US$1.4million in cash and diamonds.
It is probably the greatest security breach in United States history.

Interesting fact:
This is 55 years-old Chris Cooper's first major role as an actor considered for a leading role.
In fact his performance was critically received as outstanding and was given plenty of positive praises when the film was released on 16 Feb 2007 this year in the United States to coincide with the real Robert Hanssen's capture back in Feb 2001.

Acting across Chris Cooper is Ryan Phillippe who plays Eric O'Neill, the guy who brought Robert Hanssen to justice.
He can be most remembered starring in teen-oriented films I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Cruel Intentions (1999) to the more recent Academy Award winning film, Crash (2004).



And playing the role of Special Agent Kate Burroughs, the mastermind behind Hanssen's capture is Laura Linney.
She starred in the horror and courtroom drama film The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005).



Important note:
Breach though is a spy film is not in the make of movies like James Bond and Mission Impossible.
It does not rely on "Wow" factor such as special effects, car chases, and hard hitting actions.
Being inspired from a real espionage, the casting was done in accordance to fit real life characters.
In such an environment, the actors either make or break the movie.
It is all about character portrayal.
The point is can it breach the hearts of those watching it?

Breach opens 12 April 2007 in Singapore.

News 10 April 2007: Singapore bans film about ex-political detainee.
"The government will not allow people who had posed a security threat to the country in the past to exploit the use of films to purvey a false and distorted portrayal of their past actions and detention by the government," the ministry said, adding that this may "undermine public confidence in the government."

Read the full report here:
http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20070410/117622109400.html

More release dates here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401997/releaseinfo

Trailer and movie link:
http://www.breachmovie.net/