| The Film |
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The saga of disgraced NEW REPUBLIC journalist Stephen Glass is retraced in Billy Ray's hyphenate debut Shattered Glass, an unassuming walk across the crossed threads of deceptive webs fuelled by an interesting pair of performances from Hayden Christensen as Glass and Peter Sarsgaard as embattled editor Chuck Lane. Fascinatingly repetitive, the picture itself is something of a scam, portraying Glass' tall tales in straight flashback fashion before systematically debunking them, replicating, in a sense, the feeling of betrayal that Glass' readership, his audience, must have felt upon learning that they'd been duped with craft and imagination. Questions of journalism sliding into entertainment (and the general slackening of ethics and standards that such a descent entails) are handled with the sort of subtlety that suggests a rare regard for an audience's intelligence--a wise decision considering the subject matter. Shattered Glass is entertaining and slightly discomfiting stuff, given a snappy pace and a professional look by folks who are, after all, engaged in the same sort of mythmaking and fabrications as poor, lonesome Glass. The film is ingratiating, and more dangerous than it seems because of it.-
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The DVD
Lions Gate's wonderful DVD release of Shattered Glass contains a special feature I suspect most viewers will be curious to see after the film has finished: a 12-minute "60 Minutes" piece that includes interviews with not only Glass but also the real-life Chuck Lane, who says drolly that if Glass told him it was sunny outside, he'd have two sources confirm it first. Though Glass insists that he's a reformed liar and is coming out of a five-year hibernation--during which he received therapy and attended law school--to administer a belated mea culpa, reporter Steve Kroft openly accuses him of being disingenuous for apologizing on national television. It's a fun segment, if too brief to properly tighten Glass' slackened noose. The only other major supplement, not advertised anywhere on the cover art, is a commentary with writer-director Billy Ray and Lane. Now at THE WASHINGTON POST, Lane proves to be a little more demonstrative (or, in Lane's words, "less pithy") than his on-screen analogue, although he truly admires Peter Sarsgaard's interpretation.
Lane is not shy about citing instances of dramatic license--the surprise is that he doesn't have to do so very often, betraying Ray's attention to detail. (Ray himself fesses up where Lane would have been none the wiser, like how he changed the sex of a FORBES staffer to fit Rosario Dawson into the movie.) Ray is meanwhile fond of self-deprecating asides, assigning any and all credit for the film's aesthetic accomplishments to cinematographer Mandy Walker and editor Jeffrey Ford, the latter of whom, from the sounds of things, completely ignored Ray's script when assembling the rough cut. Marred only by teasing mentions of deleted footage that didn't make it onto this DVD (and in the final minutes by an impromptu Oscar speech from Ray), this is an absorbing track that complements a 2.35:1, 16x9-enhanced widescreen transfer whose soft look I attributed to the anamorphic lenses used to shoot the picture, as the image is otherwise sharp enough to exhibit grain. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix ignores the rear channels and, with the exception of a tribal drumbeat in Mychael Danna's score, the subwoofer, too. Trailers concealed beneath the studio logo for Shattered Glass and Girl with a Pearl Earring round out the platter.-
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DVD GRADES:
Image A-
Sound B+
Extras A- |
DVD VITALS:
Running Time
94 minutes
MPAA
PG-13
Aspect Ratio(s)
2.35:1 ONLY, 16x9-enhanced
Languages
English DD 5.1
CC
Yes
Subtitles
English, Spanish
DVD-9
Region One
Lions Gate
Buy the SHATTERED GLASS poster at Moviegoods (click on image)
What's coming out on DVD? Check the release calendar
AUTEUR'S CORNER
also by Billy Ray
BREACH
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Published: March 12, 2004
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