Shattered Glass (2003)
Starring Hayden Christensen, Peter, Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Rosario Dawson, Hank Azaria.
Written and Directed by Billy Ray
99 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
Shattered Glass is the directing debut of Billy Ray, the screenwriter who penned such films as Color of Night, Volcano, and Hart’s War. The film is a nice debut with a solid story. The story itself revolves around a writer named Stephen Glass who wrote for “The New Republic” in the late 1990s. His style was colorful and catchy and he always seemed to find great stories that no one else could find. That’s because he made up nearly half of all the articles he wrote.
The film plays out like a new age All the Presidents Men, as a web magazine takes on Glass and his phony stories. In that sense the film really works and is a lot of fun. The inter-office politics within “The New Republic” are also interesting, although they get a little heavy handed in the last third of the film. What really sticks out most is that such a widely regarded publication could let something like this happen in this day and age. It turns out that when fact checking, if no real sources can be found the fact checker simple go by the writers notes. This was a startling fact that I was not aware of. We live in a time when too many people relay too much on what the news media tells us. This is a warning tale, if nothing else.
The biggest problem with the film is its lead, played by Hayden Christensen. Christensen, most know for being the new Darth Vader, seems out of his skin in nearly every scene. His performance in Attack of the Clones was blasted, however, much of it was blamed on Lucas’s poor script skills. This film proves that it’s not just Lucas. Unlike so many of the great actors in the film, one can clearly see that Christensen is “trying” to act as best as he can. Others in the film, like Sarsgaard and Sevigny, simply do it. Perhaps, his skills will improve over time; the next Star Wars film is being released next year. We’ll have to wait and see.
Shattered Glass is another example of what independent filmmakers are trying these days. While the line between the studios and the indie makers becomes ever closer, there are still solid films being produced, with good stories and good acting. That is about all you can ask for these days.
Grade: B-
Written by David Bohnert