Shattered Glass


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For the Transformers Shattered Glass, see Transformers: Timelines.
Shattered Glass

Theatrical poster
Directed by Billy Ray
Produced by Tove Christensen
Marc Butan
Gaye Hirsch
Adam Merims
Craig Baumgarten
Written by Billy Ray
Based on an article by H.G. Bissinger
Narrated by Hayden Christensen
Starring Hayden Christensen
Peter Sarsgaard
Chloë Sevigny
Steve Zahn
Music by Mychael Danna
Cinematography Mandy Walker
Editing by Jeffrey Ford
Distributed by Lions Gate Films
Release date(s) October 31, 2003
Running time 94 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $6,000,000
Gross revenue $2,944,752 (Worldwide)

Shattered Glass is a 2003 American drama film written and directed by Billy Ray. The screenplay is based on a September 1998 Vanity Fair article by H.G. Bissinger. [1] In it he chronicled the rapid rise of Stephen Glass's journalistic career at the The New Republic during the mid-1990s and his steep fall when his widespread journalistic fraud was exposed. The film is based on real events and also captures the high-pressure world of national political journalism.

Contents

Plot summary

The film opens with Stephen Glass wandering through a trade fair featuring Monica Lewinsky memorabilia. In a voice-over, he criticizes reporters who show off and try to get ahead and recommends they try being humble and self-effacing instead. He is then seen giving advice to aspiring journalists in his former high school. The film cuts back to this scene occasionally throughout.

At The New Republic, Glass is known for his highly imaginative articles and amusing pitches at editorial meetings, although he expresses his lack of self-confidence to colleagues Caitlin Avery and Amy Brand. The staff is mentored by and respects editor Michael Kelly. They are less enchanted with fellow writer Charles Lane, who staunchly supports excluding photographs from the publication.

When Glass submits an article about the drunken antics and sexual escapades of Young Republicans at a convention, Kelly questions him about some of the facts in the story, particularly mention of a mini-bar in the hotel room. Glass claims he erred by misdescribing what was in fact a small rental refrigerator. When the hotel confirms such appliances are available for guests, Kelly is satisfied the rest of the report is accurate.

Kelly defends his staff against his boss, Martin Peretz, who had criticized them for using too many commas in an issue, and soon after is fired and replaced by Lane. Kelly's departure is very emotional and many question the decision.

In a later staff meeting, Glass emphatically discusses his latest article about teenaged Ian Restil, a hacker hired by Jukt Micronics, a high-tech software company in Silicon Valley, after he manages to compromise their system's security. Glass reports Restil is able to negotiate a lucrative compensation package and is celebrated by his peers at a hacker convention. After the article is printed, Adam Penenberg, a writer at Forbes Digital Tool, an online Forbes publication, has difficulty corroborating nearly all of the facts in the story and questions its legitimacy to his editor. His colleague Andy Fox helps in disproving elements of the story, ranging from the existence of Jukt Micronics to whether the hacker convention ever took place. In a conference call that includes Penenberg, Fox, their editor, Glass, and Lane, Penenberg raises his issues with the story, including the phone numbers Glass provided as source material and Jukt Micronics's supposed website, which is not representative of a sophisticated company. Glass's responses are so unconvincing Lane begins to doubt him. Glass eventually claims he was tricked by his sources.

After the call ends, Lane demands Glass take him to the location of the hacker convention and the restaurant where he and his sources allegedly dined afterwards. He discovers the Bethesda structure Glass claims was the site is closed on Sundays, and the restaurant where he claims they ate dinner closes at 3:00pm. Glass confesses he never attended the convention and relied on others for the information he used.

Lane is outraged by Glass' lies and supposedly sloppy reporting but, mindful of his own tenuous standing with the staff and of Glass' popularity among them, is uncertain how to proceed. He decides to place Glass on a two-year suspension. When more questions about the reporter's veracity arise, Lane orders Glass out of the office and confiscates his security access card. Searching through back issues of The New Republic, Lane realizes much, if not all, of Glass' previous work was partially or fully falsified, and decides to fire him.

Upon his arrival at a staff meeting the following morning, Lane discovers the staff has written an apology for Glass' shenanigans to their readers. They spontaneously begin to applaud their editor, signifying their unity and determination to heal the magazine.

During a later meeting with Glass and his attorney, Lane begins reciting the names of magazine pieces he has concluded contain questionable material, and invites Glass to refute any of them. Glass sits silently as the titles are being read, and the screen dissolves to Glass' visit to his high school classroom, now revealed to be empty, another figment of Glass's imagination. Just prior to the closing credits, we learn Glass fabricated all or part of twenty-seven of the forty-one articles he wrote during his tenure.

Production

The film was developed following detailed research and interviews with major players in the story. Some scenes, based on recordings, are almost verbatim. Both Charles Lane and Hanna Rosin, who inspired the character of Catlin Avery, worked as advisers to screenwriter/director Billy Ray [2] [3].

The film's soundtrack includes "Wild Thing," performed by X, "New Sensation" by INXS, and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was shown at the Telluride Film Festival, the Boston Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival, the Mill Valley Film Festival, and the Austin Film Festival before opening on eight screens in New York City and Los Angeles on October 31, 2003. It grossed $77,540 on its opening weekend. It eventually earned $2,220,008 in the US and $724,744 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $2,944,752. [4]

Principal cast

Critical reception

A.O. Scott of the New York Times called the film "much more than a knowing, insidery docudrama about a magazine that has long prided itself on its inside-the-Beltway knowingness," "a serious, well-observed examination of the practice of journalism," and "an astute and surprisingly gripping drama." He added, "A more showily ambitious film might have tried to delve into Glass's personal history in search of an explanation for his behavior, or to draw provocative connections between that behavior and the cultural and political climate of the times. Such a movie would also have been conventional, facile and ultimately false. Mr. Ray knows better than to sensationalize a story about the dangers of sensationalism. Shattered Glass is good enough to be true." [5]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times felt the film was well-cast and "deserves comparison with All the President's Men among movies about journalism." [6]

Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film "impressively compelling" and said of Hayden Christensen's performance, "He's brilliant at imbuing Glass with recognizably human qualities so that his downfall is, if not tragic, at least sad." She continued, "The movie unfolds at a brisk pace that compels you to stay with the action every single moment. It's a confident first effort from director Billy Ray, who has elicited strong performances from his supporting cast, particularly Peter Sarsgaard and Hank Azaria." [7]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone thought Christensen was "sensational" and said Sarsgaard "makes a devastating impression." He added, "The film never digs deep enough into the pressures on Glass from his family, his peers and himself to achieve psychological depth. But as an inside look into the hothouse of journalism, it's dynamite." [8]

Wendy Ide of The Times thought that "despite some impressive performances ... this biopic lacks the journalistic killer instinct that could have elevated it above the well-executed but slightly sanctimonious, made-for-TV feel it has." [9]

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ "Shattered Glass," Vanity Fair, September 1998
  2. ^ New York Times, October 31, 2003
  3. ^ Slate Magazine, September 20, 2003
  4. ^ BoxOfficeMojo.com
  5. ^ New York Times review
  6. ^ Chicago Sun-Times review
  7. ^ San Francisco Chronicle review
  8. ^ Rolling Stone review
  9. ^ The Times review

External links







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