Eric O'Neill, a low-level surveillance expert with the FBI, believes he is accomplishing his dream of becoming a full-fledged agent, with his unexpected promotion and assignment to clerk for Robert Hanssen, a renowned senior agent with 25 years in the FBI. However, he soon learns the reason for his promotion is to gain Hanssen's trust and find proof that he is a traitor to the country. Determined to draw the suspected double-agent out of deep cover, O'Neill finds himself in a lethal game of spy vs. spy, where nothing is as it seems.
Acting
Chris Cooper's Hanssen: terrifyingly ordinary, unforgetably specific.
Writing
Every scene asks: who's performing, who's believing?
Direction
Billy Ray lets dread accumulate like dust on a security clearance.
Director
Billy Ray
Chris Cooper
Robert Hanssen
Ryan Phillippe
Eric O'Neill
Laura Linney
Kate Burroughs
Caroline Dhavernas
Juliana O'Neill
Gary Cole
Rich Garces
Dennis Haysbert
Dean Plesac
Kathleen Quinlan
Bonnie Hanssen
Bruce Davison
John O'Neill
Jonathan Watton
Geddes
Jonathan Potts
D.I.A. Suit
David Huband
Photographer
Scott Gibson
Agent Sherin
Courtenay J. Stevens
Agent Loper
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Eric O'Neill consulted daily; Cooper refused to meet the real Hanssen, wanting pure invention.
Hanssen's actual dead drops included a garbage bag under a bridge—this film's restraint makes it more haunting than Bond fantasies.
US
