Dir.
Peter Ray, USA, 95 mins
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Hank Azaria
A film about a lying journalist doesn't sound like a particularly interesting topic, but Shattered Glass is a fast-paced and slickly made examination of office politics, ambition and ego. A fascinating insight into the pressures of working on a top US magazine, the film also provides a compelling portrait of an ambitious young upstart who goes one step too far.
Based on the real life scandal around The New Republic journalist Stephen Glass, one of the biggest hotshots in US journalism until a website journalist exposed him as a fraud, Shattered Glass reveals how one man's lies nearly brought down the most highly respected magazine in US journalism. As Glass, Hayden Christensen puts in a stunning performance with the perfect combination of wit, charm and enthusiasm. One of the youngest journalists to write for The New Republic and, by the mid-90s one of the most sought after writers in the US, Glass faked 27 out of 41 articles for The New Republic before being caught out. In addition, he also faked articles for Rolling Stone, Harpers and George in his capacity as a freelancer.
However, this isn't a film just about the enigmatic and intelligent Glass, it's a film that questions the trust between journalist and reader and examines the role of the internet in news. Forbes Digital Tool, a now defunct online publication, was behind the exposure of Glass as a fake. With both Jayson Blair at The New York Times in 2003 being caught out for faking stories and the Hutton Inquiry's damning report on the BBC's now notorious Andrew Gilligan broadcast, Shattered Glass is a topical hot potato. If people can't trust the news, where do they turn? The film doesn't attempt to answer the questions it sets up, but instead leaves the facts to speak for themselves.
Shattered Glass is simply filmed and, despite being mainly set in grey, cramped offices, still manages to create a fast paced feel that echoes the lifestyle of the driven young journalists working on The New Republic . The cast is a stellar one; Christensen, Chloe Sevigny and Hank Azaria rub shoulders with the wonderful Peter Sarsgaard who plays Chuck Lane, the then editor. Billy Ray, the writer/director of Shattered Glass, makes his directorial debut and, if the quality of this is anything to go by, is surely a name to watch.
Elizabeth Hyder
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