37. Shattered Glass (2003) ... I have always liked Hayden Christensen on screen despite all the flack he got for his Star Wars performances and his acting being described (unfairly!) as wooden. He certainly proved his critics very wrong as he has gone on to do many solid performances in films within disparate genres. Shattered Glass is a riveting drama and, in my opinion, Christensens best performance. ... so far! He successfully and effectively conveys the many facets of the flawed, complex character he portrays in the piece: Glass is devious, a compulsive liar and a betrayer of both his journalistic integrity and his colleagues; however, he tries so hard to please and to be liked, desperately craving respect and esteem from his superiors and his workplace peers. The film tells the true story of fraudulent Washington, D.C. journalist Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen), who rose to meteoric heights as a young writer in his 20s, becoming a staff writer at The New Republic for three years (1995-1998) where 27 of his 41 published stories were either partially or completely made up. Looking for a short cut to fame, Glass concocted sources, quotes and even entire stories, but his deception did not go unnoticed forever and eventually his world came crashing down. One of Glass most successful stories concerned how technology companies try to stop hackers from damaging them. In attendance at a computer geek convention Glass reveals that he witnessed how a computer company hired and paid one million dollars to a teenage hacker so that he would stop breaking into their security system. Meanwhile Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn) from the Forbes internet magazine is confronted by his superior as to why he had not got any wind of the story as Penenberg is responsible for all technology matters. He calls Charles (Chuck) Lane (Peter Sarsgaard) who is Glass direct superior and editor, asking for more details about the story. As both Penenberg and Lane investigate further (and Glass is frantically trying to authenticate his sources) both begin to realise that something is very wrong with the whole scenario. Caitlin Avey (Chloë Sevigny), a co-worker of Glass, supports him unreservedly. But ... Lane digs even deeper, finding more and more holes in Glass story and subsequently uncovers a litany of lies which clearly show that he had made the whole thing up. Glass is eventually fired and when Lane makes detailed analysis of Glass previous published articles the terrible truth of journalistic deception is revealed. The New Republic eventually had to publish an editorial retracting almost half of Glass news stories because of unsubstantiated sources and fabricated details. I love to re-visit Shattered Glass every now and again to enjoy its raw drama and I guess there is something perversely delicious about watching a flawed, but intelligent, human try every trick in the book to get out of a complex nightmare that he solely has created. We, the audience, want Glass to get caught, but at the same time hope for his rescue. Christensens fine tuned interpretation of the role results in this dichotomy with regard to our emotions. He is just superb in the part! Mention must also be made of Peter Sarsgaard as the frustrated editor trying to root out the truth and uphold the integrity of his magazine; he too is magnificent! Shattered Glass has a riveting tale to tell with strong performances all round; a real gem and a must see! Interview on YouTube with the real Stephen Glass ... youtu.be/A1fcF9LLjYE IMDB Info ... imdb/title/tt0323944/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Trailer on YouTube ... youtu.be/LTeK1v6Qx_I
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:51:59 +0000
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