Based on the juiciest scandal in the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the new picture Breach strangely downplays most of the sensationalism in its subject in favor of a character study full of doubt and ambiguity. The case of Robert Hanssen, a distinguished officer who over many years betrayed an enormous body of secrets, including the identity of American agents, to Russia, provides enough salacious matter to keep the tabloids in business for years, yet the filmmakers barely touch on what a character calls Hanssen's "sexual deviancy." Their odd and uncharacteristic delicacy suggests a decision to create a different Robert Hanssen from the actual man, a character in a fiction rather than a figure in reality.

To establish its historical accuracy, the movie begins with a videotaped press conference in which the then-Attorney General Robert Ashcroft announces (in front of those famous draped statues) the arrest of a top FBI agent for espionage. It then backtracks to the origin of the investigation that led to that arrest, a long, detailed process of surveillance through a variety of methods --- audio and video taping, bugging cars, telephones, and offices, and most important, the insertion of a young employee, Eric O'Neill (Ryan Philippe), undercover as a clerical assistant to Hanssen (Chris Cooper).

The picture then follows two related paths, one, the gradual accumulation of evidence so that the Bureau can arrest the traitor in the act of espionage, the other, the growth of the relationship between the naive, ambitious O'Neill and the battle-scarred, embittered Hanssen. Serving both his nominal supervisor and Kate Burroughs (Laura Linney), the agent in charge of the Hanssen investigation, O'Neill finds himself pulled in different directions down those diverging paths. As O'Neill attempts to discover proof of his boss's guilt, he also learns a good deal about his quarry's motivation and personality.

Stern, dogmatic, didactic, constantly correcting and chastising his assistant, Hanssen nevertheless becomes something like a mentor to the young man, even at times assuming control of both his personal and professional life. He instructs O'Neill in some of the intricate foolishness and ponderous inertia of FBI bureaucracy, its preference for politics over competence. A fanatically devout Roman Catholic, a member of the conservative organization Opus Dei, Hanssen also browbeats O'Neill, a lapsed Catholic, and his Protestant wife into attending Latin Mass and joining his family's Sunday gatherings.

As Hanssen increasingly intrudes into O'Neill's life, he also reveals more of himself, hinting at some of the reasons for his harsh treatment of his assistant and his rigid professionalism, which apparently derive from his relationship with his even more demanding father. Although he never of course mentions his espionage, the motives for betraying the country and the organization to which he has devoted his life result from the familiar plight of the competent, loyal worker denied recognition and passed over for promotion.

Breach only hints at other complexities and contradictions in Hanssen's personality. The loyal agent, the puritanical Catholic, not only commits treason but also indulges in kinky sex, videotaping his lovemaking with his wife and sending the tapes to other men. The eager beaver O'Neill discovers a tape when he opens an envelope that he suspects contains the evidence he seeks, but finds something quite different. Here the director exercises so much discretion that he omits the history of the real Hanssen's behavior, which included other sorts of sexual activity, including a relationship with a stripper, that never appears in the movie --- how could he leave that out?

Although the movie pulls its punches and spends perhaps too much time on minor matters, it also serves as a terrific vehicle for the skills and talents of Chris Cooper. His interpretation of a man who in reality was probably far less interesting than the character in the picture not only achieves a convincing authenticity but also suggests a complexity beyond the flat surface of the screen, a depth that in a sense he develops without the support of the script. He even manages to create sympathy for this driven, failed, complicated, nearly tragic figure; it's a virtuoso performance and in itself transforms a piece of history into a work of art.

Breach (PG-13), directed by Billy Ray, is now playing at Culver Ridge 16, Pittsford Cinemas, Henrietta 18, Webster 12, Tinseltown, Eastview 13, and Greece Ridge 12.