Espionage thriller Breach has Cooper, Phillippe squaring off

The problem with being routinely great is that people start taking your excellence for granted.

Nobody is likely to take Chris Cooper for granted after seeing Breach, an uncomfortably claustrophobic real-life spy movie that gives the actor one of his juiciest roles.

But don’t expect to be wowed with bombast and hammy gestures. Cooper keeps a tight lid on his performance, delineating the life of a man adept at diverting attention. At the same time he excels at suggesting what’s going on behind a bland exterior. And when he finally blows — watch out.

Cooper portrays Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who was arrested in 2001 after feeding the Russians classified information for two decades, single-handedly orchestrating the biggest espionage disaster in U.S. history.

Billy Ray’s film is essentially a game of feints and dodging between two men. Young FBI agent Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is not pleased when he’s named the new assistant to Hanssen, a veteran Soviet specialist and computer wizard who is heading up a new program to protect the FBI’s data base from hackers.

This is just the sort of dead-end assignment the advancement-obsessed O’Neill dreads. His mood turns darker when a bureau bigwig (Laura Linney) explains that Hanssen is suspected of being a deviant whose sexual practices pose a security risk. O’Neill is supposed to watch his boss for signs of misbehavior.

Sometimes it’s all O’Neill can do to get through the workday. Hanssen is imperious, demanding and borderline abusive. Politically and socially he’s a bit to the right of Attila, stating categorically that women shouldn’t wear pants (“America doesn’t need another Hillary Clinton”) and spouting uber-patriotic rhetoric.

Hanssen resents the FBI gun culture which rewards the guys who knock down doors while sidelining those who sit at desks being thoughtful. He disdains the system that promotes the polite and politic while ignoring real genius — namely himself.

And Hanssen is a devout Roman Catholic of the old school who says the Rosary daily, attends Latin mass and attributes the fall of Communism not to Ronald Reagan but to Soviet godlessness. Upon learning that O’Neill is a lapsed Catholic, Hanssen devotes himself to getting his aide to return to the fold.

When O’Neill threatens to quit because he’s wasting his time trying to find dirt on a squeaky-clean guy like Hanssen, his handler finally reveals the truth. Hanssen has been in Russia’s employ for years and the bureau desperately wants to catch him making a drop of classified material. If O’Neill can make that happen, he’ll be a key player in the biggest espionage case ever.

Director Ray (Shattered Glass) excels at real-life thrillers in which personalities take precedence over cinematic flourish. Breach unfolds mostly in a tiny, windowless office outfitted with drab government-issue furniture. Even when the action moves outside into a gray Washington winter, things feel tightly constrained. There’s almost no breathing room in this film, which makes Hanssen and O’Neill’s game of wits nearly unbearable.

Good thing Phillippe and Cooper are up to the job.

We’re supposed to identify with Phillippe’s O’Neill, who in his quest to bring down Hanssen almost shatters his own marriage (Caroline Dhavernas plays his wife). And Phillippe is very good.

But a weird thing happens. Cooper is so convincing as Hanssen that he becomes the focus of attention. He’s arrogant, certainly, and a traitor, doubtless, but he’s also weirdly compelling, a blend of creepiness and self-assurance that has allowed him to take on and run circles around the American intelligence establishment.

The performance’s greatness lies not just in the way Cooper delivers his dialogue, but in how he inhabits the role between the lines. Hanssen doesn’t explain why he does what he does, but the performance tells us anyway. Cooper absolutely nails the aura of besieged self-righteousness that has allowed Hanssen to rationalize his crimes.

Breach has a deep cast of supporting players — among them Gary Cole, Dennis Haysbert and Kathleen Quinlan — but in the end it’s a two-man thespian slugfest. Phillippe and Cooper are more than up to it, reminding us that real espionage isn’t about chases and gunplay but about the duplicity of the human personality.

STARRING: Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Caroline Dhavenas, Laura Linney

DIRECTOR: Billy Ray

MPAA RATING: PG-13

RUN TIME:

107 minutes

STUDIO: Universal Pictures

3 stars