After getting enough sun to get that lazy and tired feeling yesterday I sat down and watched Breach. It stars Chris Cooper and is based on the true story of FBI upstart Eric O’Neill who enters into a power game with his boss, Robert Hanssen, an agent who was ultimately convicted of selling secrets to the Soviet Union.

I have been putting off watching this movie for a few weeks, not because it was not interesting but because I had fears that I would be annoyed by Ryan Phillippe playing the role of Eric O’ Neil. To ny surprise he was not that bad and certainly did not take anything away from the film. Chris Cooper as always nails a part and makes you feel a lot of compassion for someone who was clearly one of the most evil men in US history.

I really enjoy spy movies and anything to do with that whole genre. How people read people and study things and learn the way things work always has interested me. After the movie was over I was wanting more and did a little research on the real Robert Hanssen.

From Wikipedia

Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944) is an American former FBI agent who engaged in spying for the Soviet Union and Russia against the United States for a period of at least 15 years.

Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Foxstone Park near his home in Vienna, Virginia, charged with selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds over a 15-year period. On July 6, 2001, he pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage.[1][2] He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. His activities have been described as “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history”

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There are a few books out there on this subject that I may check out and I did get excited to see there was another movie about this but then I saw it was a made for TV flick and lost interest. Maybe if it was a doc or something I would check it out.

Overall I would say the movie is worth watching. It has strong performances and tells a little bit about American history and it totally makes you think about your own day to day workings with computers and people. I had to chuckle at the whole dialogue about not trusting IT guys.

If you have an afternoon off and need a break from the sun I say give Breach a spin and let me know what you thought.

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