Excellent Movie
Added 12/22/2009
Great Movie, gives you a realistic perspective of the life of an agent, the conflicts between the personal life and the demands of his job. The contrast of telling the truth and living the truth. Great reconstruction of one of the worst failures in the intelligence community.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
"is it worth it?"
Added 12/21/2009
The story of the capture of Robert Hanssen, who stole military secrets from the US and sold them to the Russians, that grabs your attention and keeps you fidgeting on the edge of your seat!
It is amazing how a righteous individual can be extremely corrupted inside: It's called compensation. Chris Cooper is amazing as Hanssen , nearly to a point that you almost feel sorry for him in spite of how terrible his character is! Watch the amazing performance and "Pray for us".
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
DON'T BUY THIS
Added 11/6/2009
Literally or figuratively.
Firstly, not for one second did Chris Cooper persuade me he was Robert Hanssen. As he looks nothing like Hanssen the "suspension of disbelief" necessary to become involved in the outcome of this "thriller" was negated the moment one sees Cooper.
Photographs of Hanssen show a burly man with a toothy smile who one could well imagine having 6 children. The ideal type to be a career bureaucrat attending pointless good-old-boy meetings for 25 years. Whereas Cooper is a smaller acerbic type and a born eccentric. Any civil servant with that kind of weird personality would have been sent packing after 2 years of unflattering reviews. (I too write from experience)
I believe the producers cast Cooper with the sole intention of cashing-in on his unforgettable performance in "The Bourne Identity". Another sad comparison being the boss lady in both films was played by an attractive blonde. Laura Lynley never convinced me either she could be a hard-nosed spy bureaucrat (as did Joan Allen).
The less said about the nominal hero the better. This movie was obviously his "vanity project". A small fish whose need or ability to outshine Hanssen made no sense at all. Except as fiction - to introduce fake-tension into the latter stages of a "thriller" which had no natural thrills.
What a crazy genius like Hanssen requires is an insightful 2-hour documentary extending way beyond the phenomena of "turned spies". Orwell's DOUBLETHINK being so common in every walk of life no one can believe a word any politician says. Inevitably leading to our present-day loss of good-natured honest-to-God American values.
To sum up - making this movie - where one didn't exist - can now be seen as a waste of everybody's time and money.
1 out of 7 people found this helpful.
|
Impecable Acting by Chris Cooper
Added 11/4/2009
Just resaw this movie and was spellbound, not so much by the story (which was compelling), but by Chris Coopers action. Having really only gotten acquainted to Cooper in American Beauty where he in my mind topped the list of an awful lot of top rate performances, I must say his acting in this movie matched if not surpassed it.
Possibly because he in this movie finally was the lead and the audience then had 'more of him' he gave examples of his incredible array of facial expressions and emotions, and often subdued / hard to grasp ones. True acting is not about the lines they carry but the ability to truly make the audience identify with the character. Chris Cooper could carry a movie without uttering a word - his expressions, body language etc says more than a thousand words.
Many reviews focus on the accuracy of the portrayal of the case which frankly to me is secondary. For one no one truly knows what did happen and what caused Hanssen to do what he did... and due to the nature of the crime no one likely ever will - and is that really so important. It certainly takes nothing away from the compelling story in this movie and the sublime acting.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Outstanding Acting by Chris Cooper
Added 11/3/2009
This movie came out with apparently little or no hoop-la. It is definitely one of the best films of the year. I watched it 2 x.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Excellent Movie
Added 12/22/2009
Great Movie, gives you a realistic perspective of the life of an agent, the conflicts between the personal life and the demands of his job. The contrast of telling the truth and living the truth. Great reconstruction of one of the worst failures in the intelligence community.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
"is it worth it?"
Added 12/21/2009
The story of the capture of Robert Hanssen, who stole military secrets from the US and sold them to the Russians, that grabs your attention and keeps you fidgeting on the edge of your seat!
It is amazing how a righteous individual can be extremely corrupted inside: It's called compensation. Chris Cooper is amazing as Hanssen , nearly to a point that you almost feel sorry for him in spite of how terrible his character is! Watch the amazing performance and "Pray for us".
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
DON'T BUY THIS
Added 11/6/2009
Literally or figuratively.
Firstly, not for one second did Chris Cooper persuade me he was Robert Hanssen. As he looks nothing like Hanssen the "suspension of disbelief" necessary to become involved in the outcome of this "thriller" was negated the moment one sees Cooper.
Photographs of Hanssen show a burly man with a toothy smile who one could well imagine having 6 children. The ideal type to be a career bureaucrat attending pointless good-old-boy meetings for 25 years. Whereas Cooper is a smaller acerbic type and a born eccentric. Any civil servant with that kind of weird personality would have been sent packing after 2 years of unflattering reviews. (I too write from experience)
I believe the producers cast Cooper with the sole intention of cashing-in on his unforgettable performance in "The Bourne Identity". Another sad comparison being the boss lady in both films was played by an attractive blonde. Laura Lynley never convinced me either she could be a hard-nosed spy bureaucrat (as did Joan Allen).
The less said about the nominal hero the better. This movie was obviously his "vanity project". A small fish whose need or ability to outshine Hanssen made no sense at all. Except as fiction - to introduce fake-tension into the latter stages of a "thriller" which had no natural thrills.
What a crazy genius like Hanssen requires is an insightful 2-hour documentary extending way beyond the phenomena of "turned spies". Orwell's DOUBLETHINK being so common in every walk of life no one can believe a word any politician says. Inevitably leading to our present-day loss of good-natured honest-to-God American values.
To sum up - making this movie - where one didn't exist - can now be seen as a waste of everybody's time and money.
1 out of 7 people found this helpful.
|
