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by Walter Chaw 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's tall tales in straight flashback fashion before systematically debunking them, replicating, in a sense, the feeling of betrayal that Glass's 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.
