Before Jayson Blair plagiarized quotes and fabricated material
in his articles for The New York Times, there was Stephen
Glass.
Glass was an ambitious journalist who fabricated events in his
articles to achieve success at various publications, earning large
sums of money and a reputation for always writing the perfect
story.
Although the story of Stephen Glass has all the makings for a
great Hollywood film, “Shattered Glass” is content on
being simply a re-creation of the events leading to Glass’
demise. As a result, the movie plays more like a news segment than
a narrative film.
Glass’ ambition mirrored his own neuroticism and desire
for companionship. His success in journalism attracted attention to
his personal life and became the medication to fill his inner
void.
“I wanted them to think I was a good journalist “¦ a
good person,” said Glass in an interview for “60
Minutes” earlier this year. “I wanted them to love the
story, so they would love me.”
But these character flaws within Glass are never fully developed
in the film. We only see an obnoxious 25-year-old writer, played by
Hayden Christensen, that got caught trying to cheat the system. The
pain and emptiness which compel Glass to plagiarize are never made
self-evident, and as a result, the film suffers.
Instead of challenging himself and the film, writer/director
Billy Ray relies on a straightforward approach that minimizes all
of his characters to one dimension. Ray seems more concerned with
keeping the brisk running time under 100 minutes rather than
focusing on the depiction of his main characters.
While the character of Glass provides Christensen with his first
leading role, it does not allow him to break away from the whiny
brats we’ve seen him portray in the past. Christensen, like
everything else in this film, is straightforward in his portrayal,
and whether Christensen is the actor George Lucas believes he is
remains unresolved. Â
Regardless of Christensen’s performance, “Shattered
Glass” is burdened by its own simplicity. Without any true
characterization, the film loses the immediacy and ardor that
imbued other journalistic films like “The Insider” and
“All the President’s Men,” and thus joins the
ever increasing list of mediocre films based on real events.
““ Pete Flores