Review of Breach (2007) by Sarahg. — 19 Feb 2007
Chris Cooper delivers a performance like nobody has ever seen. One of the best acting performances of all time. In every important way, Breach isn't just a solid thriller; it's also an ambitious and engrossing piece of narrative journalism.
That it's based on a true spying case seems almost incidental. The heart of the picture is the human drama. Without Cooper's performance, Breach would have been a good, workmanlike thriller.
His presence lifts it to a whole new level. The movie is serious, intelligent, intentionally claustrophobic and awfully somber -- you remember it in black and white, though it was shot (by the masterful Tak Fujimoto) in color.
But you'll remember Mr. Cooper's performance for exactly what it is, an uncompromising study in the gradual decay of a soul. As the New York Times put it "One of the strengths of Breach, a thriller that manages to excite and unnerve despite our knowing the ending, is how well it captures the utter banality of this man and his world.
" Chris Cooper is truly amazing. In this film, everything comes down to the acting. Chris Cooper, one of our finest screen actors, gets inside the mysterious traitor. Ryan Phillippe has just the right gung-ho determination tempered with a touch of naivete as O'Neill.
Meanwhile, Laura Linney nails the role of a career agent. Breach is A wonderfully taut cat-and-mouse thriller. As The Village Voice put it "This is a spy movie bereft of the genre's usual, casual kicks.
It's not interested in cheap thrills or playing gotcha with the audience. (Which isn't to say parts of it aren't exhilarating.)" Cooper also pulls off the near-impossible, making us feel dashes of sympathy for this twisted and unscrupulous man.
The movie is all Cooper, and he sure as hell delivers.
This review of Breach (2007) was written by Sarahg. on 19 Feb 2007.
Breach has generally received positive reviews.
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