Shattered Glass

Title: Shattered Glass
Director: Billy Ray
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Chloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard
Year: 2003
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references and brief drug use
Date of Review: February 9, 2005


In this true-to-life story, Hayden Christensen plays Stephen Glass, a young reporter working for The New Republic magazine in the late 1990s. It follows the rise and fall of his short career, as we see him become popular with his co-workers who love hearing his humorous stories about events he has attended, people he has interviewed, and things he has seen. It is then found out by a reporter for the then-online magazine Forbes, that Stephen Glass' latest article about a hacker conference is actually a fabrication. This leads to an investigation by his editor, who discovers that over 2/3 of all of Glass' work has been fictional.

The movie runs at a tight pace, and at a runtime of barely 90 minutes, it is shorter than the average political or legal drama. This is usually the downfall of many movies of this type, but for this, it is actually beneficial, as we are not bogged down with needless characters, dialogue or moral preaching. It is quick and to-the-point, much like the articles it depicts. Stylistically, this is a good thing.

Unfortunately, what the movie IS bogged down by are a few iffy and uneven performances, mainly from Steve Zahn, who is incredibly miscast as the Forbes reporter that begins the unraveling of Glass' lies. While his character is meant to be a serious one, it seems like he is always holding back from laughing or spurting out some comedic one-liner that you could expect from a movie by the Farrelly Brothers. Hayden Christensen is great at playing the whiny over-achiever Stephen Glass. Then again, it seems, after looking at Christensen's filmography, that that is the only type of character he can play.

To balance the film out, there are some outstanding performances from the supporting cast, most notably that of young actor Peter Sarsgaard in the role of Chuck, the editor who uncovers Glass' deceiving nature. He plays a character that is easy to hate, yet at the same time easy to identify with, as he struggles to earn the respect of the writers while uncovering a conspiracy incriminating one of their best friends.

The direction is taut and keeps the film interesting, but there are bits that could have been improved, re-written, or completely scrapped. There is an entire subplot to the story in which Glass is telling a high school class about his experiences writing for The New Republic, but it doesn't go anywhere and leaves you wondering why it was ever put there in the first place.

"Shattered Glass" is an intriguing film with its share of flaws. Its few moments of hoakiness are evened out by a few moments of sheer brilliance from actor Peter Sarsgaard. The film provides an entertaining and worthwhile look at ethics in journalism, and with a fast pace it manages to avoid dabbling in uninteresting characters and subjects.

6.5/10