MovieChat Forums > Breach (2007) Discussion > Should have been better if...

Should have been better if...

posted 13 years ago by rum2550
5 replies | jump to latest

After watching this movie, I read the article on Robert Hansen in Wikipedia due to curiosity. What I understood is that real facts and incidents involving him are far more interesting than what we see in the movie.There had been a lot of situations in his history which could have used effectively (considering the fact that there is hardly any storyline in the movie ). I think the two main reasons for this film being quite ineffective are,
1. Movie is limited only to the last few months of Hansen's career. (If they could depict events since his enrollment to the FBI this movie could have been faster and more intriguing)
2. Movie taking the perspective of Eric O'Neill.(Who should have been the secondary character, considering at least the weight of Robert Hansen's decades long and eventful FBI history)

I guess this is a real waste of material which could have used to make a brilliant thriller.

[–] aGuiltySoul 13 years ago

Arm chair quarterbacking. You're describing a dry, historical film. This film was dynamic and gripping.

BTW, you know that this film was based on a screenplay of Eric O'Neill's personal account, don't you? Telling the story with his unique perspective is what gave it it's zing and humanized a rather complex story of treason.

"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."

[–] rum2550 13 years ago

Thanks and appreciate your opinion.
But I have 2 questions for you.
1. Did you felt movies like "Catch me if you can", "A Beautiful mind" etc. dry and historical too..?
2. I am not a native English speaker. Please define "Dynamic".

[–] aGuiltySoul 13 years ago

Neither "Catch Me if You Can," nor "A Beautiful Mind" were any more historically based than this film. Let's say they were both loosely based, often overly dramatized.

But what they were that "Breach" was not is sweeping, that is, each had a story covering a great deal of time. And that approach was appropriate for each of the two films.

I feel that this film's strength was that it put us in the same room where all this took place at a particular, pivotal time. Sure, they could have centered the story on the broader story of Robert Hanssen. But these last several months were pivotal to catching him and getting him convicted. It was a close run race, and fascinating how it all depended upon one low level clerk and the trust he built with Hanssen. That sense of tension and immediacy is what I call "dynamic."

"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."

[–] morganseer 9 years ago

I believe the movie you want has already been made, with William Hurt playing Robert Hansen. I didn't see that one so I'm not sure it fulfills all your requirements, but I do believe it's broader. There are also several documentaries on YouTube you may enjoy.

I loved this one for what it was, an Eric O'Neill story.

[–] themidgarzolom 8 years ago

I think they could have done a lot more to make Eric's character stand out. As memorable as Cooper's performance was, I felt Ryan was equally unmemorable. Not bad by any means, just thoroughly ordinary. I thought this was a good one-time watch and an average movie. I think the source material and story is interesting but that they could have done more with character development in the script, especially considering the layers involved in Cooper's character. He had this crazy perverted double life? OK good... SHOW us something. The drugged sextape was a good start, but not enough to really evoke the kind of disgust we could get for this character with a couple more details demonstrated visually. Like some others have posted in other threads, I also found this film to be a bit devoid stylistically. In any case, I liked the premise and Cooper's performance enough (especially that final great shot) to grade this average.