Shattered Glass

I'd just like to gloat for a minute. I remember remarking to friends of mine after the disaster that is the new Star Wars trilogy that the only reason to watch them was for Hayden Christensen. They uniformly thought he was as wooden as the rest of the actors, but I saw a hint of life in Christensen which didn't exist in the other actors (especially Natalie Portman...ugh...but I'm getting off topic). I'm happy to report that I was not wrong. Life as a House proved that he's a decent actor; this film proves that he's a stellar actor. This is the pathetic tale of Stephen Glass, a reporter for The New Republic, who fabricated more than half of the articles that he wrote for them. Naturally, the film is about trust, but in this case, it's about how deeply you can trust. Christensen gives us the innards of Glass -- his psychology (the need to please), his charm and entertainment value (which pulled the wool over his co-workers' eyes) and his ultimate unraveling. Which isn't to put down the other actors in the film -- Chloe Sevigny, Steve Zahn (not being funny for a change) and especially Peter Sarsgaard as Glass' editor. My fave movie reviewer, Glenn Kenny, apparently worked with Glass at some point, and has this to say in his review: "I know more about the real-life story of this putz than I really care to, and I was still on the edge of my seat much of the time." It's a film without action, shot almost entirely inside, which can lead to yawning moviegoers, but he's right. The film is entrancing, shocking, and scary. Everyone should see this, if only so they remember not to believe everything they read.

year: 2003
length: 95 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0323944/combined