Breach
(HD-DVD Combo Format + DVD-Video)
Picture: B+/B- Sound: B+/B- Extras: B Film: B
One of
the best thrillers we have seen lately is Billy Ray’s Breach, a 2007 telling about how Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper)
created the greatest military intelligence leak in FBI history and how a top
inside operative (Laura Linney) recruits young novice agent Eric O’Neill (Ryan
Phillippe) to help expose him. Of
course, it puts him in great danger as the situation to trap Hanssen becomes
increasingly intense.
We
already gave this film a rave in its theatrical release, as this link shows:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5046/Breach
I really
liked the film and my fellow critic liked it even more than I did, but we are
in very strong agreement that it is one of the best films of 2007 so far. Cooper is still an underrated actor despite
winning an Academy Award, while Linney continues to be one of the best
actresses of her generation, always picking the most interesting material she
can find. But I want to single out the
much-maligned Ryan Phillippe, who like any other guy trying to survive in
Hollywood early on did coast on his look (or looks, either way) taking some
silly films and high concept commercial work, including the silly Cruel Intentions, Ridley Scott’s mixed White Squall and 54, which really got the critics attacking him for not “being able
to act”.
However, given solid material, he
can excel as he already proved with Way
Of The Gun, Crash and was not
bad early on in a supporting role in Crimson
Tide. Like Heath Ledger, critics
took playing a male bimbo for being one and are now backtracking in the face of
good work. If he keeps it up, Phillippe
could have a big career, but he has to keep backing risk-taking, intelligent,
mature material like this instead of just fluff. That might not always equal hits, but he was
never on the A-list for making money.
Fortunately, that might make him a box office star.
The 1080p VC-1 1.85 X 1 digital
High Definition image looks very good with little denaturing of the color and
no annoying digital effects work, just a smooth presentation throughout as shot
by Director of Photography Tak Fujimoto, A.S.C., who is best-known for
Johnathan Demme’s The Silence Of The
Lambs. As with that film, he knows
how to build suspense out of the seemingly simplest shots and this is a recent
case study on how to shoot suspense. The
anamorphically enhanced DVD side and separate DVD-Video look good for their format,
with the DVD flip side being very, very slightly more refined than the
stand-alone DVD, though that is not enough to rate it higher.
The Dolby
Digital Plus 5.1 on the HD side is better than the standard Dolby 5.1 on either
DVD side, but this is a well-recorded film mix and Mychael Danna’s score is
better than one might first notice. This
is often dialogue-based and that comes through nicely, especially in the Plus
mix. Extras include a Dateline NBC installment on the case,
solid feature length audio commentary by Ray and the real Eric O’Neill, Breaching The Truth featurette showing
how the tale was made into this film, deleted/alternate scenes that are all
interesting (running 18 minutes) and Anatomy
Of A Character showing how Cooper worked to become Hanssen. All around, a top grade HD-DVD and DVD
release.
If you
missed this film, it is must see thriller cinema for those who can handle the
suspense!
- Nicholas Sheffo
