Shattered Glass (2003) tells the story of a young reporter working for a prestigious magazine whose pieces are revealed to be mostly fictitious. It’s based on the true story of Stephen Glass and his scandal with The New Republic. Directed by Billy Ray and starring Hayden Christensen.
I, being a massive fan of Hayden Christensen, love this film by default. Perhaps I’m too kind on it, but I do believe that it is a fascinating story told in an interesting way. That being said, I found it a disappointment in comparison to some of Christensen’s other works.
One of the best aspects of this film is how they managed to weave the facts and authentic details in with a compelling dramatic story. We get very much charmed by the unique personality of Stephen Glass, and over the duration of the film, these little quirks take a more sinister feeling – in my mind, in any case. And reading up about friend’s accounts about what happened has really shone a light on the adherence to truth in this movie, in that Stephen Glass is really that charmingly quirky person. Yet they didn’t have to sacrifice any story in doing so. I think that balance is hard to get when dealing with stories based upon real people, particularly those so closely resembling the person and painting a negative picture of them.
I also absolutely adore how Chuck is logically the hero in this story, as he is the one who exposes the wrongdoings of Stephen; yet at the end of the film, I’m still sympathetic to Stephen. There’s still a part of me taken in by the young weirdo and wishes for his fortune and feels for his pain. And judging by the accounts, the real person has this effect on many people.
However, and perhaps this says more about me than the movie itself, I found it quite dull. I’m not one to chase highly entertaining things – not a fan of big explosions and massive dramatic shows, but I do believe there was something lacking here. I think it boils down to polarity shifts and tension. The film, for Stephen, starts in a place of relative comfort before he’s confronted with an unfamiliar situation. It’s then that his journey starts going downhill and this happens very gradually. He’s slowly let down from his pedestal. Right up until the last scene when the audience is faced with the stark reality of everything, when Stephen stops lying. As the film is trying to conceal the truth and have it slowly unravel, there’s not much put in place for building tension and hope, which keeps things quite flat.
Overall, I have enjoyed this film enough to watch it quite a few times, and would hesitantly recommend to a friend dependent upon whether or not they like the slower stories.
365 Films 