Shattered
Glass
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard
Written and Directed by: Billy Ray
Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
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 instead. 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.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Fiction, by Adam Penenberg
Tracking
Lies, by Kambiz Foroohar