Breach – What Espionage, Dr. Grips and Geocaching Have in Common

This evening Sean and I went to see the movie Breach.  It’s based on the true story of FBI agent Robert Hanssen who served as a spy for Russia and the Soviet Union for at least 15 years.  The movie covers how Hanssen (played by Chris Cooper) was finally caught with the help of a young, wanna-be FBI agent (played by Ryan Phillippe).

I was interested in the film mainly because I’m fond of Chris Cooper.  Little did I know, Cooper had a costar that I’ve been an even greater fan of for much longer.

Early on in the film, Cooper holds up and clicks a thick blue pen.  I recognized it instantly– I have a whole fleet of those pens in a variety of colors and inks.  And, keeping with my practice of selecting gifts based on my tastes, I’ve given a number of people those pens as gifts throughout the years.

“Look!” I whispered to Sean, “A Dr. Grip!”

Just then, Chris Cooper tells Ryan Phillippe, “Best pens in the world!  I never write with anything else.”  

Pilot must be so proud!  Dr. Grip – Writing utensil of choice for international espionage!

Chris Cooper and his esteemed co-star, the Ice Blue Dr. Grip

I was very pleased to see the Dr. Grip’s role to be more than a mere cameo.  In fact, it got a good amount of screen time.  Even though I only whispered once, the Dr. Grip’s prominence throughout the movie did not sneak by Sean.  He had a good quote on what he was thinking as the film progressed:

“Good gawd.  It is like Vicky wrote it and tried to sneak this crap in.”

The Dr. Grip wasn’t the only thing I found familiar during the movie.  Since the film is set in D.C., some key scenes took place on the same roads I take to visit my grandmother.  Rock Creek Park was featured and finally, another park caught my eye.

Near the end of the movie, when Hanssen was making a drop, the park and bridge looked very familiar.  I was, however, able to keep that observation to myself until the credits were rolling.

“That bridge looks very much like a geocache I found,” I told Sean as we exited the theatre.

At that point, Sean marveled at how the movie seemed like it was written just for me.  🙂

I consulted my geocaching.com account when I got home.  The drop scene was familiar for a reason.  Brian Nenninger and I did  find a geocache in September 2003 that was placed specifically with Robert Hanssen in mind (GCC562 The Dead Drop).  And now that my memory is reviving, I believe Brian picked out that cache because of its sorted history!

Anyway, since I’m still giddy at the Dr. Grip’s appearence and the geocache coincidence,  I think it is safe to say I enjoyed Breach.  And… I suspect it might even hold some appeal to those who do not write exclusively with Dr. Grips or who haven’t mucked around in the same mud as the main character.  🙂