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Shattered Glass

Review By: Dan Deevy
DanDeevy@TheCinemaSource.com

“If you’re going to lie… lie big; because the more outrageous a lie is, the less people will question it.” It takes either an incredibly honest, or an incredibly ballsy high school teacher to make a statement like that to impressionable young sophomores. But, luckily for me, that’s exactly what I had growing up.

Learning more about the true and sometimes harsh nature of life than I did about history in Mr. Bennett’s 4th period global studies class, this little pearl of wisdom was naturally the first thing that came to mind after previewing Shattered Glass.

In this, the true story of Stephen Glass, former staff writer for The New Republic, a highly esteemed current events and policy magazine based in our nation’s capital, we see what happens when the overzealous ambition of a brilliant kid is mixed with his innate talent for simultaneous ingratiation and subterfuge.

Granted, if you have absolutely no interest what-so-ever in the craft of journalism you might find the film a bit slow and less than riveting, but for anyone who holds even a passing interest in the field, you’ll be sucked in by the first couple of frames and happily, the pay off at the end is well worth the journey.

This tortured character driven piece is proof positive that Hayden Christensen doesn’t need a light saber and an ill fated destiny to fill audience members with conflicting emotions of sympathy and contempt. The young actor brings Stephen Glass to life in an intriguing and respectful way that I dare say Mr. Glass himself might even approve of.

With an excellent supporting cast including such great actors as the always loveable Steve Zahn, the sexy and enticing Rosario Dawson and of course veteran performer Hank Azaria, Shattered Glass has a real ensemble feel to it although in the end, there is no doubt that the power of the film is Christensen’s overt likeability in spite of his characters actions.

I refuse to give away too many specifics about the film itself because I really feel that you need to watch it unfold knowing as little as possible before hand to truly appreciate the art of how the filmmakers chose to tell this story. But what I can tell you is that this is one of those rare films that can and will be studied by aspiring filmmakers for years to come.

Shattered Glass was one of the most enjoyable movie going experiences I’ve had in a very long time. I find that the best movies are the ones that allow me to leave the theater still debating how I felt about what I just saw. Whether it’s the characters, my questionable allegiances to them, the story or even the way that the story was told, I enjoy the uncertainty of the conflicting emotions that it evokes. I love walking out with something to think about; ...