Shattered Glass
Cast
Hayden Christensen .... Stephen Glass
Peter Sarsgaard .... Chuck Lane
Chlo� Sevigny .... Caitlin Avey
Melanie Lynskey .... Amy Brand
Steve Zahn .... Adam Penenberg
Directed by
Billy Ray
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
6/10. Shattered Glass may be a very successful independent movie, not
because of the plot or any clever marketing by Lions Gate, but for
their simple casting choice of Hayden Christensen, best known as
Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode 2. He's a simple plan to draw
in teen girls, and it's working. I've heard many girls chattering
about it in the hallways of my high school, yet none of them have
seen it. I suppose that's the way it should be: you can lead a horse
to water but you can't make him drink. But I digress.
Shattered Glass, based on a true story, follows the life of Stephen
Glass (Christensen), a young journalist for The New Republic
magazine, which boasts itself as the only in-flight magazine for Air
Force One. Glass is the youngest writer there, and he enjoys writing
under Michael Kelly (Hank Azaria). However, soon Kelly is fired and
one of Glass's new stories, "Hack Heaven", is being scrutinized for
it being falsified, causing Glass to fall from grace. Peter Sarsgaard
and a stocky Chloe Sevigny ensues.
I really don't know what Lions Gate was trying to do. They try to
attract a teen audience by getting Christensen in the lead role, but
then they get indie king/queen Sarsgaard and Sevigny (who both
starred together in Boys Don't Cry) along with freshman director
Billy Ray (who also wrote the screenplay, along with some for Hart's
War and Volcano). I think that the odd casting is one of the biggest
liabilities. There's always a distinctive feel between art-house and
wide released, studio films. Although Lions Gate has released films
wide, such as O and Frailty, there's just a difference, and it's a
line that they're unsuccessfully trying to cross.
I had heard nothing of the entire Stephen Glass story until I heard
about the movie, and it somewhat intrigued me. After reading all of
the glowing review, I have to think, "What were they thinking?"
Although it is an intriguing story, it just isn't executed that well.
The story is true, but it was very hard to believe that if Glass
could screw up so many times in his lies that people still believed
him. And, although Christensen really seemed to know what he should
do as Glass, he often overacted and came on with his emotions too
early. Sarsgaard is terrific, as usual, playing his typical bad guy
role. Sevigny, however, is nowhere near as good as she was in Boys
Don't Cry, and her role here is underdeveloped, as many are.
With such an interesting story as this, though, it would be
impossible to make a bad film. The plot is intriguing, and Ray's
direction seems amateurish but stylish. He tries a variety of styles,
which makes the movie just a little better. What really got me was
how subliminally Ray showed how flawed and how Glass was battling his
inner demons at the end of the film. He doesn't really explore it in
the film until one of the last scenes, but that's what really made
the picture work how it did with me. It's not a great movie, nor is
it that good, but Ray's choice at the end is worth it.
Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references and brief drug use.
Running time: 99 minutes
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