Breach

The true story of the FBI operation to catch double agent Robert Hanssen is turned into a sharp, smart thriller that plays down the Hollywood spy movie conventions for a look at the real work of the intelligence community. Chris Cooper is unnervingly good as Hanssen, a veteran agent suspected of treason, and Ryan Phillippe is quite good as the fresh young agent tossed into the deep end of trust and treachery and deviance when he's assigned to shadow the bitter agent who hides his hypocrisy behind a moral pose. "As [director Billy] Ray tells it, this spy-vs.-mole tale is often worthy of Hitchcock, especially the Hitchcock who humanized spies and made their difficult choices so involving," writes MSNBC film critic John Hartl. Ray ("Shattered Glass") brings a quasi-indie attitude to the Hollywood scale with the help of a stellar case that includes Laura Linney, Gary Cole and Dennis Haysbert. Available in widescreen and full-screen editions, plus HD-DVD format. Features commentary by Ray and real-life FBI operative Eric O'Neill, eight deleted scenes and two alternate scenes (with optional commentary by Ray and editor Jeffrey Ford), the featurettes "Breaching the Truth" and "Anatomy of a Character," and the 2001 "Dateline NBC" profile on Robert Hanssen.