MovieChat Forums > Breach (2007) Discussion > How come he didn't spot the lie?

How come he didn't spot the lie?

posted 16 years ago by LCgirl88
6 replies | jump to latest

Robert Hanssen was supposed to be very good at detecting lies. Remember when he asked Eric to tell 5 five things, 1 of them is a lie, and he spotted the lie straight away. So, how come he couldn't tell when Eric was lying about the PDA?

[–] freshspoo 16 years ago

I think he had become very fond of Eric and he wanted to believe him.

[–] julesotis13 16 years ago

my exact quesiton
and if hanssen was so devious and couldnt be caught by all the super agents, why did he slip?
this is what makes the movie compleeing....going on the "basedon a true story" especially
assuming they didnt embelish too much whichi believe is the case as they even acknowledge by saying in words that the other agent retired in may, not feb when he walked down the hallway with his box -- cuz i odnt know much about fbi life tho im sure retiring takes more than walking away with a box! lol)

he was able to infiltrate Hanssen by preying on his devout religicism
and/or hanssen wanted to get caught?

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] LuxuryJesper 9 years ago

The reason why he took his things with him (in the box), was because he was done with his assignment.

All these voices in my head, and not a single one I understand.

[–] morganseer 8 years ago

if hanssen was so devious and couldnt be caught by all the super agents, why did he slip?

According to Wikipedia, Hansen slipped up and gave himself away several times, it's just that no one wanted to believe it could be him.

As for his ability to detect lies, I believe he greatly overestimated his own abilities. He "detected" a lie that had to be a lie if Eric wanted to work for the FBI (I think it was something about not being good at lying), but he repeatedly overlooked Eric's subsequent lies. And there were many. The pager, the car scenes, the search of his palm pilot, etc. That whole "I can always detect lies" scene was put there for its irony.

BBL

[–] Chococat0518 15 years ago

Robert Hanssen was supposed to be very good at detecting lies. Remember when he asked Eric to tell 5 five things, 1 of them is a lie, and he spotted the lie straight away. So, how come he couldn't tell when Eric was lying about the PDA?

I believe Hanssen did detect the lie, but maybe he wanted to get caught and end everything before he could do more damage. Who knows, people like him are quite special.