On February 18, 2001, the FBI arrested one of its own, longtime agent Robert Phillip Hanssen, and charged him with treason. Hanssen had long worked in counterintelligence, but since 1979 had been a spy, first for the USSR and then for Russia, receiving more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds from his Russian handlers. Hanssen had been responsible for leaking the US contingency plan in case of a Russian nuclear attack, had passed on American methods to intercept Soviet transmissions, and had provided the names of KGB officers working for the US -- to name just a few of his acts. He was directly responsible for at least several deaths, and has been widely acknowledged by the national security agencies as having caused more harm than any other spy in US history.

Breach -- written by Adam Mazer, William Rotko, and director Billy Ray -- depicts Hanssen’s final days as an FBI man. Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is a young FBI surveillance expert assigned to record conversations of suspected and would-be terrorists. O’Neill longs to become an intelligence agent, and has published a long report on managing surveillance data, but spends much of his time cloistered in a parked van with his cynical colleagues, eavesdropping on targets. Suddenly, he is reassigned by a senior FBI official, Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney), to act as assistant to a newly appointed data-security expert, Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper). Burroughs tells O’Neill that Hanssen is a sexual deviant and pornographer whose activities are bringing disgrace on the FBI. O’Neill is to watch Hanssen for evidence of his misdeeds.

But after several weeks, O’Neill can find no evidence of Hanssen’s involvement in pornography, and even begins to respect him. In frustration, he confronts Burroughs, and she lets him in on the real reason Hanssen is being investigated: Hanssen is a Russian spy who has betrayed the US in the worst way. The FBI is closing in, and O’Neill’s job is to keep Hanssen distracted and unaware of their activities. But O’Neill’s failing relationship with his wife, Juliana (Caroline Dhavernas), threatens to blow his cover.

Breach focuses on the investigation’s final phase -- the two months leading up to Hanssen’s arrest -- as seen through O’Neill’s eyes. I suspect that the larger investigation of Hanssen and how he was found out is far more interesting than the immediate period before his arrest, but Breach reveals surprisingly little about Hanssen himself. His penchant for exotic dancers and voyeurism are alluded to, but little screen time is spent exploring his secret life. Nor is a strong motive for his treason ever provided.

The script also does a poor job of developing O’Neill’s character. His behaviors are inconsistent with someone who has been granted his wish and promoted -- when finally brought into the fold to become a bona-fide member of the investigative team, O’Neill displays none of the zeal I would have expected for having been assigned such important and career-making work. Furthermore, the self-doubt that O’Neill reveals to his new boss, Kate Burroughs, does not ring true. After less than two months in his new role, he is plagued with doubts more appropriate to a cynical, seasoned veteran.

Each of O’Neill’s several arguments with his wife could have been easily avoided with a simple, two-sentence conversation, without jeopardizing the investigation. Instead, O’Neill either yells at Juliana or walks away, ignoring her -- essentially, he acts like an idiot. I suspect these melodramatic moments were left in by Ray to spice up an otherwise bland story. I’m not suggesting that the facts of the Hanssen case or the actions of any of the characters be altered. But if O’Neill quarrels with his wife or has doubts about a career in intelligence, then provide the dialogue or information that supports his actions. I ask only that O’Neill be made more credible.

Breach is not a bad film. But with such great material from which to draw, it’s a shame the result is so mediocre, and that so little of the intrigue, excitement, and drama of one of the biggest busts in espionage history has made it to the screen.

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