Into The Breach

Watching the self-delusional—or was it?—portrayal of a high-ranking government official, deeply religious, cynical, not trusting anyone except one young assistant, an official who committed acts of treason over and over for years and got away with it....one wonders if it’s left to the film makers to tell us our history.

The Breach is riveting film-making, and it debuted on HBO Saturday night, which means it’s long been out in theatres and even DVDs, so we none of us have an excuse for missing what is one of the most powerful movies in recent times about the inner workings of our government.

Chris Cooper as the FBI-turned-spy Robert Hanssen adds to the chilling tone of the movie. No Sheriff July Johnson, steadfast, honorable, here. Instead, the path of an older law man gone totally corrupt. Hanssen’s deeds are destructive of everything he professes to hold dear...his family, his career, his personal values. His devotion to Opus Dei religiosity, his hyper-intelligence about what the FBI needs to do to protect its security are totally at odds with his betrayal of U.S. secrets, his betrayal of his relationship with his wife and family.

In The Breach we see but never come to understand how a man could totally trash everything he professes to value. But perhaps this dialog from Cooper as Hanssen, delivered in a matter-of-fact tone all the more haunting for its mundaneness, sums things best: “He spied...the why doesn’t mean a thing, does it?”

The real Eric O'Neill, the FBI staffer who gained Hanssen’s trust and ultimately led to his downfall, served as a special consultant for this film. There are countless others like him who work anonymously for the best interests of our country, and their value is incalculable when corruption or criminality sinks deep roots within the government.

Yet for those who follow events of current times, who chafe at the “sand in the umpire’s eyes,” who beat the drums for oversight, there is this postscript in stark white letters on the blackened screen which may well also be the signature for the first Twenty-First Century administration:

The full extent of the damage done remains classified.