Shattered Glass

Saw the terrifying movie Shattered Glass last night at the Uptown. Don’t let this baby slip under the radar. Hayden Christensen’s performance as pathological lair and freelance writer Stephen Glass, is so convincing that you have to watch it between your fingers. The intelligent direction allows the film to unfold like a tense chess game. Peter Sarsgaard’s performance as Stephen’s Editor at The New Republic is completely understated and reserved in the face of Christensen’s frantic and impetuous character. At times, the exchanges between the two were distressing to the point that I found myself twisting uncontrollably in my seat. Man, you just want to punch Christensen in the face but Sarsgaard takes it in the totally opposite direction. Graceful.

I think it was better going into the movie knowing very little about the Stephen Glass story. If you’re planning on seeing the film and don’t want anything spoiled, stop reading this post and do not click on any of the following links.

Stephen Glass wrote many (approx 27) completely or partially fabricated stories for The New Republic. Here is a link to an index of those stories. The guy is so pathetic that one reporter has him quoted as saying, “I could have been Dave Eggers,”. Ha. In attempting to cover up his tracks on a story called ‘Hack Heaven’. Stephen Glass actually builds a website for a software company he completely made up. It’s a sweet website. Check it out here.