Dir. Billy Ray
Writ. Billy Ray. Adam Mazer, William Rotko
Act. Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney

This movie could be described as the interesting spy movie that wasn't. It was a movie that had interesting characters and good acting yet the story was just too neat and tidy for my liking. Maybe I expected a little more in my spy movies but I thought this was a little too paint by numbers to do justice to the actual event. This movie didn't suck, but it left a lot to be desired for in my opinion.

Eric O'Neil, played by Ryan Phillippe (Flags of our Fathers,) is an FBI Agent in training when he is given the assignment to spy on fellow agent Robert Hanssen, played by Chris Cooper (Syriana.) He is given this assignment because even though Hanssen has been a celebrated agent for 25 years, he is a sexual deviant and the Bureau are afraid that this could do harm to the Agency. After investigating, and with the help of his supervisor, O'Neil discovers that Hanssen is a traitor and had been selling secrets to the Soviet Union/Russia for most of the 25 years and O'Neil is to help catch Hanssen in the act.

I thought the cast did a great job, with particular credit given to Chris Cooper. He is one of the best actors that nobody has ever heard of but he has one of those faces you have seen in many movies. I though his portrayal of Hanssen was effortless and believable from beginning to end. I also like the work that Ryan Phillippe did in this movie. He was strong in his performance of a man not knowing who to believe and how much he liked his job and what he is willing to sacrifice for it. This was a nice follow up performance for him after last years Flags of Our Fathers. Maybe divorcing Reese Witherspoon forced him to focus on his craft, bad for him personally, but great news professionally.

The problem was with the script as well as the direction. There was no intensity in the actions of the actors and no suspense in the story. If the guy was as good of a double agent as he was in true life, then he would have seen the traps and the work that was being done against him. Even if he was beginning to be caught, which I believe he was, he wouldn't have fallen that easily. There wasn't any drama to the way they caught him either. I guess what I am saying is that it was too easy and not believable.

This movie is definitely a wait and see until DVD and that is a shame. The actors wasted great performances on a mediocre script and directing, but it is the winter and this is what we should expect this time of year.

Brian - the Naked Gun