In an era of action-packed spy films like The Bourne Ultimatum, viewer expectations for Breach may be a bit out-of-kilter. Breach is a methodical film with no chase scenes or martial arts-style fights, but it is a thriller nonetheless. Based on a true story, Breach stars Ryan Phillipe as Eric O'Neill, a young FBI agent assigned as an aide to longtime agent Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), who FBI bosses suspect is a spy for the Russians. O'Neill's resourcefulness and perseverance results in the arrest of Hanssen in 2001; Hanssen is presently sitting in solitary confinement for life in a Colorado prison.

Chris Cooper is excellent as Hanssen, convincingly portraying him as a frustrated spy and conservative Catholic whose treachery is both unbelievable and plausible. We see Hanssen through the eyes of agent O'Neill and understand how Hanssen could have fooled the FBI, as well as his close friends and colleagues, for such a long time. The film does start a bit slow (keeping to the true story as much as possible may have limited director Billy Ray's storytelling options), but it is well-worth sticking it out to experience the capture of the U.S.'s most notorious spy.