MovieChat Forums > Breach (2007) Discussion > Don't you feel a little sorry for him?

Don't you feel a little sorry for him?

posted 18 years ago by Kubrick_Reincarnated
136 replies | jump to latest

I do realize that the way Hanssen was portrayed in Breach could cause sympathy for him, and I realize that Hanssen was a pretty cold hearted bast****.

But throughout the entire film, I felt no sympathy for this man at all (mainly because he caused at least 3 murders).

However when I read that he spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, I was horrified. Here is a man who knows that he will have only 1 hour a day of human contact for the rest of his life. All for what? For violation of the Espionage Act which he pled guilty to. For $1.4 million in U.S. secrets that, in the end, didn't do that much damage (or at least visible damage).

So far, I don't think he deserves 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. Then I come to another reason he was imprisoned: For the lives of at least 3 people. However, Robert Hanssen didn't kill these people directly. And even murderers don't get 23 hours of solitary confinement a day.

In the end,I guess that when you kill an American, you get a life sentence without possibility of parole. But when you double-cross America, you get a life sentence without possibility of parole and 23 hours/day of solitary confinement.

What do you think?

"Heavy lies the crown."
Jack Nicholson, The Departed

[–] subwoofers 9 years ago

he *beep* with the FBI as an FBI agent

this sentence was more about sending a message to "would be" traitors than what he actually did

there are all sorts of reasons for sentences. most we will never understand. hard ass judges, easy judges, politics, what's going on in the media at the time, etc.

justice is never blind

i know this is a true story but the way the movie was portrayed made me feel bad for him too

but who are we to judge?

was he evil? misguided? insane? twisted logic (when he said he was showing us how laxed we were which turned out to be true on 911)

i doubt he was doing it just for the money or just to be an evil *beep*

at least not the way he came across in the movie

either way, i liked the movie. didn't care much for any of the females in the movie tho

[–] clogan8307 9 years ago

I don't feel sorry for him. In fact he got off easy. People used to be executed for betraying this country. If I was in prison I'd be glad to be in solitary confinement 23 hours a day. It cuts down on your chances of getting raped by the general population.

[–] cableaddict 9 years ago

The OP sez:

"... Here is a man who knows that he will have only 1 hour a day of human contact for the rest of his life. All for what? For violation of the Espionage Act which he pled guilty to. For $1.4 million in U.S. secrets that, in the end, didn't do that much damage (or at least visible damage). "

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Didn't do much damage? It resulted in the deaths of a minimum of 4 agents, and that's only what we know about. The govt won't say what else because it's classified, but probably MANY more agents died or were imprisoned. 20 years worth of information likely had devastating consequences.

What if the secrets he sold had caused the death of thousands, even millions of people? For example, helping the Russians avoid our military in Afghanistan? Or maybe it ened up helping some terrorist group defend against the USA or NATO troops? It could have potentially also caused the destruction of the US monetary system. I could have, and likley DID, seriously affect our ability to negotiate important treaties and economic agreements with various countries.

Any of this MIGHT have happened, and he had no way of knowing what WOULD happen.

He should have been eaten alive by rats.