re:mote voices

Title: Shattered Glass
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Chloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Rasario Dawson, Steve Zahn
Director: Billy Ray

Hayden Christensen demonstrated in Star Wars Episode II just how right he was for the role in Shattered Glass. All the arrogance/whininess that made you want to kick his teeth in there is cranked up to a whole other level with this portrayal of Stephen Glass. A journalist who was caught making up stories for the apparently prestigious New Republic magazine.

Glass is a 24 year old journalist who takes the story teller role to heart, through feigning self-effacement and ingratiating behaviour he tries to become everyone’s friend, through accounts of wild stories he tries to become popular. However it becomes clear that he is repeating stock phrases, and perhaps it is only subconscious, but does his best to manipulate situations to his favour.

His last story was about a hacker that attacked a big software company only for the company to turn round and offer him a security job. But when an online magazine that specialises in just this kind of story want to follow it up, they find they can’t track any of the companies or people named in the story. With increasing degrees Glass is called to account, asked for data, then as people become more suspicious they are trying to get him to verify facts, to prove that any of his story is true. Glass always has an answer, but is forced closer and closer to the edge till he is forced to claim that he has been duped. But, suspicion increases and it looks like it goes further than Glass is willing to admit.

The manipulative and emotional nature of Glass, as interpreted by this adaptation of the articles that were published exposing him is really brought to live but the simpering, whimpering, and generally pathetic nature that Christian plays the part with. An interesting drama which exposes the elitism of a certain level of journalism, and how unfounded it can be. There are aspects of the film as it unfolds that make the viewer incredulous, fair enough the rise of computers and the internet has really taken off over the years, but these events happened in 1998, which isn’t really that long ago. Ironically the real Stephen Glass who this film is based on completed his studies as a lawyer, which are referred to, and published his first novel last year – apparently an account of an ambitious young journalist who ends up making up stories to climb the ladder.