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Shattered Glass 2003 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Billy Ray
PG-13, 103 min. (language, sexual references, brief drug use) |
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Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn, Melanie Lynskey, Hank Azaria, Rosario Dawson, Luke Kirby
Producers: Craig Baumgarten, Marc Butan, Tove Christensen, Gaye Hirsch, Adam Merims
Screenplay: Billy Ray
Cinematography: Mandy Walker
Distributor: Lions Gate Films
Released: 10.31.03 (Limited) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Shattered Glass recounts in meticulous detail the now infamous Stephen Glass/The New Republic debacle that foreshadowed
the also recent Jayson Blair/New York Times scandal. They both involve writers who partially or completely fabricated stories
for their respective employers. It's difficult to establish exactly why they would do such a thing, though Blair seemed to
enjoy it more than Glass; Glass may have been driven more by the pressure to live up to expectations and the approval of
his peers rather than self-motivated deception. This film, directed by first-timer Billy Ray, is perhaps the perfect example
of how such deception can be achieved in the workplace. Glass (played by Hayden Christensen) is so affable and likable
that his colleagues shower him with respect and praise for his work, which seems a little too good to be true. As his
fantastic stories mount (27 to be exact), his stock soars and he finds himself in great demand, further increasing the ridiculous standard
he has set for himself; thus the easier to justify his ethical misgivings (at least in his mind). Shattered Glass is fascinating
because it clearly portrays the slippery slope conundrum that faces most liars and frauds when they are confronted about
their shenanigans.
The New Republic is written by intellectuals for intellectuals, especially inside the Washington beltway (the "official" in-flight
magazine of Air Force One), and dominated by younger, up-and-coming talent. Therefore the arena in which Glass
spins his web of deceit is ripe for corruption in the light of admiring peers and proud editors. Glass' first editor,
Michael Kelly (Hank Azaria), is well-liked but deemed too stubborn for his superiors; so when a former colleague,
Chuck Lane (Peter Sarsgaard in a career performance), is promoted to editor, the staff is distant and uncomfortable. Even
as Glass' work is being universally praised, a keen writer from Web-based Forbes, Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn),
begins to question the authenticity of some of Glass' sources. When confronted by Lane, Glass is able to wiggle off the
hook numerous times with various strategies, yet eventually is pinned down and disgraced, much to the shock of his
peers and the industry.
The brilliance in Ray's film is in the way it portrays Glass' slow descent into career-ending proof of his lies. The viewer
sees the film through Glass' eyes, so instinctively a sense of doom shadows his every move; we know he's going to
be caught because almost everyone has, at one time or another, learned the life-long lesson that a strategy of telling
lies to cover-up other lies leads to a complex maze that eventually traps the liar. In almost narcissistic fashion, Glass
calculates his end but never gives in; it's as if he has convinced himself that he can maneuver himself out of anything,
and when the game is up, reality hits him like a ton of bricks.
Shattered Glass boasts one of the best casts of the year. Christensen returns to his Life as a House form after two lackluster
efforts in the Star Wars universe, providing the right combination of charm and disarming innocence to convince
almost anyone of his work. Starsgaard gives the most measured performance as the suspicious Lane, balancing the demands
of both his writers' admiration for Glass and the responsibility of ensuring integrity at his magazine. And Chloe Sevigny
and Melanie Lynskey offer solid performances as Glass' supportive colleagues who refuse to suspect that his stories could
indeed be fabricated. Ray allows his actors room to breathe and to create the sense of everyday journalism that can be both
cut-throat and cooperative.
Ethics in the workplace is a hot issue lately, from corporate fraud to journalistic integrity, and films such as Shattered Glass
offer insight into the mind of the deceiver. The pressure to succeed is palpable, and this film has the benefit of freedom
from genre formula to grip the viewer in a trance-like observation of the journey from self-deception to outright corruption
and shame. It's certainly one of the most intriguing and thought-provoking films of the year. At the very least, editors
everywhere are double-checking their fact-checking departments, and maybe even those who check the fact-checkers.
© 2003 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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