Good Movie

Okay, so I went away for like a day to get some rest and stuff, and I watched a good movie at this hotel. The name of the movie is "Breach" and it was starring Ryan Philippe (not one of my favorite actors, but he does a pretty decent job in this pic). I forgot the name of the dude who plays Philippe's emissary, but he was good, too, as was the female FBI leader (she's played in tons of stuff, but she's the kinda actress where no one really remembers her name -- only her face).

Anyway, what was interesting was the movie was based on a true story. (After I watched it, I googled the story and listened to an NPR interview with Eric O'Neill, the real FBI wanna be or upstart who took down Robert Hanssen, real life American spy.) It's about this young guy who's interested in becoming an FBI agent, and he's given a tough case that will determine whether he makes it into the agency or not. The test is to take down this spy, who has been an FBI agent for a very long time and who is mad intelligent. As an aside (and this part is true, too) this spy is a sexual deviant who videotapes having sex with his wife and sends it to people w.o her permission. Ironically, he's also a devout Catholic.

Of course, I loved the young upstart trying to prove himself theme, and the proving himself opposite the older, wicked so-called boss was even more interesting to me. So was the rookie's challenge of figuring out if he had what it took to be an agent (some moments of self doubt, combined with struggles over whether or not to trust his superior, resonated w. me, as did his boss's combination flawed personality and vulnerability emotionally). What also tripped me out was that most of this movie was really true. Unlike tons of movies that are loosely based on true stories, this one stuck to the facts mostly (just google Hanssen and O'Neill, and you'll see).

Finally, reading about Hanssen was pretty sad -- hearing how many lives he compromised by selling U.S. secrets. And, hearing that he may have given info that helped bin Laden w. 9/11. Interesting, this world of spies, that is. Makes me wonder what makes a person a traitor. Hmmmm.....