Today's Review: Shattered Glass
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard
Written and Directed by: Billy Ray
Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
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The Naked Critic
There are two schools of thought on Hayden Christensen. On one side of the
fence are people that think he's a talentless, sniveling little tool that
single-handedly ruined "Attack Of The Clones". On the other side are
people who think he's a sniveling little tool who was given piss-poor direction
and terrible character development by George Lucas - who single-handedly ruined
"Attack Of The Clones."
Well, nothing's going to change now, because there's not a chance in hell that
your average Code Red drinking, Fillet-O-Fish eating, minutiae-loving Star Wars
geek will get within 10 miles of a theatre showing "Shattered Glass".
It's a shame, really. Because while those guys are out in the back rooms of
comic book stores, playing "Magic: The Gathering" and lying about the
"Canadian" girls that they're dating on the Internet, they're missing
one of the best movies of the year.
And timing is everything, too. This movie had wrapped production by the time
the Jayson Blair scandal happened. For those of you unfamiliar with people who
write for the New York Times, he was recently fired when it was discovered that
he was fabricating a lot of his articles. It was a pretty big deal, and I'm
pretty sure that anyone within 20 miles of writer/director Billy Ray's house
when the story broke heard him orgasm. Without that scandal, a lot of people
might not have paid any attention to this movie at all.
This is the true story of Stephen Glass, who, as the movie opens, is the
"star" reporter at The New Republic. Now, I've never read "The
New Republic", but from what I gather, it's kind of news-y like
"Time", crossed with the dry, boring style of "The New England
Journal Of Medicine." In fact, it's described as the "in-flight
magazine of Air Force One." This surprised me, because I'd have thought
that the in-flight reading on that plane was "Curious George",
"Goodnight Moon", or the intellectually challenging
"Encyclopedia Brown" series.
An aside: that sound you just heard is the sound of hundreds of people
un-subscribing because I made fun of Dubya. Relax, gang, it's just a joke. If
Clinton was still President, I'd have said "Hustler" and if Gore was
President, I'd have said "Sweet Valley High." They're ALL jokes,
kids.
So, Glass is pretty much responsible for all of his magazine's best pieces. He
does an expose about young Republicans and their debauchery at
conventions...stuff like that. Meanwhile, the rest of the staff is turning in
pieces about import tariffs. But, and here's the thing, none of the staff
resent Glass because he's a - as the kids say - playa. He flirts with the
secretary, and remembers obscure facts about his co-workers. Not to give it
away, but there's a fantastic moment involving a party he throws and a
co-workers' choice of beverage that really hammers the point home nicely.
He kind of plays everyone. Whenever anyone mentions something remotely negative
to him, his automatic response is to ask "Are you mad at me?" with a
wounded puppy-dog expression on his face. And, for some inexplicable reason,
instead of force-feeding him a knuckle sandwich, they back down. Trust me,
nobody likes it if you ask them "Are you mad at me?" Especially if
the person asking you is your girlfriend, and she's just caught you smoking pot
and masturbating to porn. Even less so when it's HER pot you're smoking. Just a
word to the wise from me to you.
Glass comes to them with another one of his brilliant, dynamic stories. It
turns out that there's a company called Jukt Micronics that got hacked by some
ne'er-do-well kid. (Would that be "n3'3r d0 w377" in hacker-speak?)
So, then the kid basically extorts Jukt into giving him a well-paid
"security" job. The kid then goes across the street to a "hacker
convention", bragging about his exploits. It turns out the hacker has an
"agent", someone who sets up sweet deals like this. This pisses me
off, because I've been fighting to get an agent for months, and no dice. Maybe
I should become a hacker.
It's a huge story. So huge, in fact, that it comes to the attention of
"Forbes Digital Tool" (huh huh...I said "tool"), an online
news service. The editor calls Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn) into his office and
basically rips him a new one...showing him the article and asking how Penenberg
missed the story.
An aside: I HATE it when that happens. Without getting into too much detail, my
day-job is as a writer for a news-type show, and the bosses HATE it when you
miss "big" stories. A few months ago I got read the riot act:
BOSS: Naked, what's your lead off story for today?
ME: It could be splitsville for Ben and J-Lo!
BOSS: Really? You're aware that the US just declared war on Iraq, right? ME:
No. Hm. Interesting.
BOSS: How did you miss that?
ME: Well, it's not really "important" news, now is it?
Then he threatened to fire me for the next 3 hours. I swear, people's
priorities are so MESSED UP when it comes to news.
So, Penenberg does a little digging, and finds out some very interesting facts
about the article. Little tiny details, like the fact the company, agent, and
hacker don't actually exist. This - naturally - causes a couple of eyebrows to
be raised. They call Glass's editor Chuck Lane (Peter Sarsgaard) in the guise
of wanting to write a "follow-up" piece, when really they just want
to blow The New Republic out of the water. Now, Lane won't sit still for this,
and backs his ace reporter. But as the facts become increasingly muddled, he
starts to suspect Glass might have "massaged" the piece.
Meanwhile Glass, not the most secure guy in the world, really starts to
unravel. He knows he's been caught, and he goes to insane lengths to try and
cover himself. Phony business cards, websites, voice mailboxes...the list goes
on. I mean, it's one thing to give some guy in a bar that's been hitting on you
a fake number (not that it's ever happened to ME...) but fake companies and
websites? I haven't seen a level of subterfuge like that in years. Not since I
met this girl named "Allison" at the Groundhog pub. But that's
another story.
This doesn't sound like it would be the makings of a great film, but it is.
There's no explosions, gun battles or car chases. Hey, there's not even any
hardcore lesbian sex (which always spices up a movie). Instead, it's a
compelling story about journalism, integrity, and office politics. I can almost
hear you snoring now, but hear me out.
If you give this movie a chance, you'll be pleasantly surprised. For starters,
the acting is fantastic from start to finish. Christensen is great as Glass,
playing the part with a nervous charm that makes you want to either hug him or
slap him. He plays the meltdown brilliantly...you find yourself actually
fearing for this character's mental well-being. When a movie can do that,
you've got a great piece of work on your hands.
It doesn't stop there though. Sarsgaard is fantastic as well, as is Hank Azaria
as Glass's other editor. Also great is Zahn as Penenberg, who it turns out can
actually act without being goofy. Who knew?
Of course, the most fascinating thing about the movie is how there's no
clearly-defined bad guy. Okay, we know what Glass has done is wrong, but you
occasionally hope he won't get caught, or at the very least you want him to
just confess. But the people investigating him aren't painted with the black
hat either. Lane is a nice guy who has to deal with the undeserved resentment
of his employees after being promoted. What we see, and what the other
characters don't, is how dedicated to his staff he actually is. He's the
closest thing to a "hero" in the movie...and he plays it so well,
hopefully we'll see Sarsgaard in other roles soon.
The story draws you in and hooks you early, and delivers solid entertainment.
If you don't feel like a big action film - or even if you do - check this one
out. And for all you Star Wars nerds who won't see it because of Christensen, I
say this: put down the triple cheeseburger and 20-sided dice and get to a
theatre. You owe it to yourself to see a movie that doesn't suck, and you
probably need to get out more anyway.
POSTSCRIPT
I'm including links to the real-life stories published by The New Republic and
Forbes. Whether you've seen the movie already or not, it makes for some
interesting reading.
Hack Heaven, by Stephen Glass
Lies, Damn Lies, and Fiction, by Adam Penenberg
Tracking
Lies, by Kambiz Foroohar
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