Review: Shattered Glass (****)

SHATTERED GLASS
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): ****


"Journalism is just the art of capturing behavior," Stephen Glass (Hayden
Christensen, Anakin Skywalker in the most recent STAR WARS episodes), tells
an awestruck high school journalism class. A preppily dressed,
investigative reporter, Stephen was a rock star in the journalistic world in
1998 when this true story takes place. Having written pieces for George,
Harper's and Rolling Stone, Stephen was then a famous reporter for the
highly influential, liberal publication, The New Republic. The periodical
is called "the in-flight magazine of Air Force One," Stephen brags beamingly
to the class, in which he was a student just seven years previously.



You may notice that accuracy wasn't mentioned in his definition of
journalism. The engrossing SHATTERED GLASS, one of this year's very best
films, is a twist on ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. This time it isn't the
president who is under suspicion but a reporter. (Ironically, in the
background in one scene is a New Republic cover story about President
Clinton's lies.) "See what happens when greatness is demanded of you,"
Stephen's adoring teacher tells her class. The quote refers to his passion
for excellence, but it turns out to have a more important and sinister
meaning.



A guy who had a strong need to be liked and to be extremely successful,
Stephen became everyone's best friend at the magazine office. His fellow
reporters loved and respected him. He was a very funny guy, so, while the
movie about him is quite chilling when you think about its implications, the
film is quite funny as well as marvelously entertaining. It is also
incredibly well acted, not only by Christensen, but also by Peter Sarsgaard
who plays Chuck Lane, the editor caught in the middle of the firestorm that
he wished he had prevented.



Under a previous editor, Michael Kelly (Hank Azaria) -- who was recently
killed while reporting in Iraq -- Stephen's lies were first glimpsed. It
was a small matter really. In his piece on drug and alcohol abuse at a
Young Republican's convention, Stephen said they got the booze from little
bottles from the mini-bar. When the alleged participants complain that the
hotel in question doesn't even have mini-bars, Stephen admits his error. He
saw the bottles, he confesses to Michael, and assumed that there was a
mini-bar. Actually, after checking his notes, he says the bottles came from
a portable refrigerator.



Stephen's massive fraud begins to unravel when a real investigative
journalist, Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn) from the online publication, Forbes
Digital Tool, starts to check the facts in a story by Stephen called "Hack
Heaven." After detailed research, Adam concludes that the only truth in
"Hack Heaven" is that Nevada is, in fact, a state of the Union. Everything
else from the names to the companies to the events were all completely
bogus. Sitting at the next desk to Adam, Andie Fox (Rosario Dawson) is
delirious with the magnitude of the story Adam is uncovering since The New
Republic, she says, "is the snobbiest rag in the business." Although Adam
knows he has uncovered something big, it turns out to be just the tip of the
iceberg.



SHATTERED GLASS is a gripping tale that is as fun as it is mesmerizing.



Of course, I could have made all of this up. It falls to you, my readers,
to check my facts.



SHATTERED GLASS runs 1:43. It is rated PG-13 for "language, sexual
references and brief drug use" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and
up.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, November 7, 2003.
In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.



Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com

Email:



************************************************** *********************



Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email?

Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.

In article . net, Steve Rhodes
says...

SHATTERED GLASS
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): ****
::snip::


Of course, I could have made all of this up. It falls to you, my readers,
to check my facts.

LOL!

Sometimes you're rewarded for reading the whole review...

Banty

Banty wrote:
LOL!

Sometimes you're rewarded for reading the whole review...

I always read his high-rated reviews. I also go to his IMDB website to
look up movies before we go. I particularly like that he mentions
children's ages. I generally agree with his assessments when I have a
chance to see the same movie, and I'm grateful to know a reviewer who I
can generally trust!

(My husband just views me as an all-knowing guru who mysteriously knows
everything about all movies.) :-)

Wendy