MOVIE REVIEW

Shattered Glass  (2003)

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard
Director: Billy Ray

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Lions Gate Films

Release Date: 10.31.03

Review Posted: 11.14.03

Spoilers: Minor

By Sara M. Fetters

Fiction as Reality – "Shattered Glass" Breaks the Mold

A writer tells stories using words. A journalist uses words to write about facts. It is quite possible for a good journalist to be a great writer, but not all great writers are decent journalists. If anything, being a good writer isn’t even a requirement to being a spectacular journalist, a command of flowered phrasing a plus but nowhere near a must. Still, the ability to turn a phrase or two definitely helps, and a gift for vocabulary acrobatics that stand out from the crowd can definitely promote the career of a budding Edward R. Murrow.

Former The New Republic contributor and junior editor Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen) was a great writer. In his stories, he had the ability to draw you in like few others. Whether detailing the antics of young Republicans frittering their nights away mired in very unconservative debauchery, or profiling the antics of a young hacker having his prepubescent ego fattened by a short-sighted technology company, Glass knew how to tell a tale. Yes, as a writer, Glass was a dynamo, but, unbeknownst to his peers and co-workers at The New Republic, he was an exceptionally poor journalist.

Why? Well, even though the staff universally loved him, including legendary magazine editor Michael Kelly (Hank Azaria), it wasn’t enough for the young, needy author. He had to be a star, the center of attention, sweepingly adored by everyone around him. How do you do that? Remember birthdays, names, co-workers’ likes and dislikes and - most of all - take an honest, sincere interest in their work. Oh yeah, it also helps if you essentially make up the majority of the articles you write and pass them off as fact, the casual reader unlikely to know the difference – especially if it is printed in the “on-flight magazine of Air Force One.”

That’s exactly what Glass did, making up all or part of 27 of the 41 articles he wrote for The New Republic during his time there. In fact, by the mid-90’s, Glass was one of the most sought-after young journalists in Washington, D.C., writing tainted articles for publications as diverse as George, Harper’s and Rolling Stone. But how did he get away with it?

Director Billy Ray’s debut film “Shattered Glass,” based on Buzz Biddinger’s 1998 Vanity Fair article, takes on the exhilarating bizarre series of events that finally led to Glass’ downfall and stopped the writer’s seemingly unstoppable career. Even more, the film valiantly holds under the microscope journalism itself, deftly attempting to examine just how this sort of thing can come to pass in a profession that holds brotherhood to truth above all else. In the end, even if the movie isn’t quite as profound or as earth-shattering as it wants to be, “Shattered Glass” is still one heck of a muckraking thrill-ride, easily one of the best newsroom dramas to come down the pike since Hoffman and Redford packed them in with “All the Presidents Men” back in the ‘70’s.

The genius of Ray’s film is that it refuses to glamorize its central figure. Glass has style, he’s got charisma, but in the end he’s nothing more than a sad child desperately trying to find acceptance and love. He’s a masochistic egotist, constantly on the lookout for kudos and completely incapable of knowing how to exist without constant admiration. It’s a fantasy world, a place where he can go back to his old high school and be fawned over by a former teacher (Caroline Goodall) and her wide-eyed class.

No, the real hero of “Shattered Glass” is mild mannered Charles “Chuck” Lane (Peter Sarsgaard). He might not be quite the writer Glass is, but he’s one heck of an editor, and an even better journalist. New Republic owner Marty Peretz (Ted Kotcheff) knows this, it’s the very reason he hires Lane to replace the outgoing Kelly. Universally beloved by his staff, firing Kelly has the same potential as dropping a crumb-sized piece of gouda in the center of a rat pit. But the burly magazine czar can’t help but feel the smart and friendly editor has just gotten too chummy with his staff, the magazine is suffering because of it.

Thing is, Lane is just as apt to fall under Glass’ spell as the rest of them at The New Republic, laughing and eating up his stories and pitches in staff meetings the same as the rest of the writers. But when one of his pieces, the aforementioned article about computer hackers entitled “Hack Heaven,” starts having holes the size of trailer trucks bursting forth, Lane languidly begins to suspect his best and brightest contributor may been doing more than just following a bad tip from an untrustworthy lead. And when a DC-based online magazine, led by reporter Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn), starts spreading those holes wider than a Louisiana turnpike, Lane must face his own crossroad: standup for Glass – and maybe destroy the reputation of the magazine – or fire his shining star – which could see his entire staff walk out with him in solidarity. It’s truth versus popularity, moral principal and integrity up against a classy smile and brilliant bon motes, and Lane has no idea which side will win..

As good as Christensen is in this film – and he is very good, easily making me realize how badly George Lucas is wasting the fine young actor in what should be the plum role of a young Darth Vader – the real revelation here is Sarsgaard. His work in “Shattered Glass” is so good you don’t even see it coming. There is a moment late in the film where Glass is trying to defend himself and his story during a conference call with Penenberg, and Ray brilliantly leaves the camera holding on Sarsgaard’s face. While the cacophony of meandering quit-witted excuses spill forth from his young associate, you see on the actor’s face the horrendous realization as to what his most honored reporter has done. The actor, no secret to the indie film scene with bravura turns in roles as diverse as tightly wound killer John Lotter in “Boys Don’t Cry” and a disassociated computer programmer seeking sexual perversity in Wayne Wang’s “Center of the World,” gives what is certainly his most dazzlingly constructed performance yet. In a perfect world, without equivocation Oscar should come calling for the young actor – he’s that good.

That doesn’t mean, however, the rest of the cast is full of also-rans. Azaria makes an impassioned impression as Kelly, a man who’s been around the block more than once yet still can’t help but fall under Glass’ spell. Even better are Chloé Sevigny – an Oscar nominee for “Boys Don’t Cry” – and “Heavenly Creatures” showstopper Melanie Lynskey as two other associate editors and reporters for The New Republic whom belong in Glass’ inner circle of closest friends, completely oblivious to his shyster tendencies. The women bring a refreshingly cynical intelligence to their performances that perfectly fit the Bill-and-Monica laden days this true story took place in. Sevigny, in particularly, is given an opportunity to shine in strikingly powerful moment with Sarsgaard near the movie’s end and the gifted young actress nails the scene with stunning profound fervor bringing me to tears.

All this said, Ray’s screenplay doesn’t always connect. Glass is still pretty much an enigma by picture’s end, and I’m not too sure I know any more about him now than I did before seeing the film. With credits like “Volcano” and “Hart’s War” on his resume, Ray the writer tends to take the easy way out when it comes to characterization, blaming parental pressure and neglect for most of the winsome woes of the movie’s protagonist. Glass ends up being more of a self-loathing crybaby than anything else, who he is and where he’s come from seemingly left on the cutting room floor. While that tends to make for poignant emotionalism, it doesn’t get the insight into the soul of man capable of pulling off a con such as this.

No matter, “Shattered Glass” is well worth seeing for the performances alone, let alone the driving immediacy Ray imbues it all with. This movie moves like a particularly forceful work of hysterical fiction. Yet with most of it being true – some of the real-life characters involved in the affair have been combined or omitted entirely for the sake of dramatic momentum – the picture achieves a cathartic singularity reminds me of the power an honest press searching for the truth can have.

At one point Glass states, “journalism is the cult of exploring human behavior.” With this film, Ray reminds us that is not only the goal of journalism, but of film as well. At its best, cinema can shine a light on the human condition, from fallacy to heroism and everything in-between, like no other medium. “Shattered Glass” does this and more and as such isn’t just a movie to enjoy, it’s one the cheer about.

Rating: êêê  (out of 4)

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