The title Breach refers initially to the breach of national security consistently being made by its true life FBI security agent, Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) as he sells government secrets to the Russians. But the title doubles as the more general breach of trust that permeates the film.

“Trust no one” is the name of the game, but even as we are repeatedly reminded of the grave consequences of trusting too much – primarily in the events of Hanssen’s treason – a failure to trust one another is cited as a problem of nearly as grave of consequences. Hanssen is paralyzed, temporarily, by his inability to trust his new clerk, Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillipe), O’Neill struggles to trust his initially withdrawn boss (Laura Linney), and O’Neill’s new undercover job of spying on Hanssen is creating serious trust problems with his wife (Caroline Dhavernas).

Layered upon it all is the subplot of Hanssen’s religiosity, Opus Dei in real life, but simply a devout Catholic in the film. Hanssen is, in many ways, a good man, and encourages O’Neill in the faith. But the religious thread offers little more than a bit of ironic texture to Hanssen’s character. Either not as much time needed to be spent on it, or more needed to be done with it. And giving it the last line of the film doesn’t cut it.

O’Neill’s relationship of trust with his wife, however, is an effective subplot that offers a poignant resolution in O’Neill’s determination not to allow a lack of trust to wreak any more destruction than it has. Of course, it also works to incorporate the actual events.

Billy Ray, previously having directed Shattered Glass, again shows that True Stories can be good ones. But while Breach benefits from the near Oscar-worthy performance of Chris Cooper, it nonetheless lacks the strength of Ray’s previous film, possibly because Glass’ first person perspective offered us more insight into our deceptive character of study. In Breach, we are simply out in the cold with O’Neill, wondering as to who this man really is – but at least we are left to learn O’Neill’s lesson of the dangerous consequences involved in our failure to trust.