Review of Shattered Glass (2003) by Martha W — 09 Dec 2011

Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard finally face off in a grand, tense and long anticipated clash to resolve the question that everyone wants - nay - needs to know: who has the more obnoxious voice? Man, of all the times Sarsgaard could have calmed his emotional self down. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a heck of an emoter, but really, there's a reason why he wasn't the "main" character in "Boys Don't Cry"; and no it's not because Hilary Swank looks more like a man than him; that's just a coincidence. Still, as great as he is when he's acting with full force and no subtlety, it's great to see Sarsgaard play this powerful role with subtlety and gra-I'm sorry, I just can't finish that statement, because I'm not totally prepared to shake an award at his clearly-going-to-get-large-with-age nose like everyone and their grandmother is doing; which isn't to say that he's not good, because he is still pretty darn good in this film; but if there's any kind of emotional resonance to be found towards the end of the film, then it can be found at the point where Hayden Christensen - of all people - is outacting Pete Sarsgaard; and you know you've reached a new low when Hayden Christens-I'm sorry, I just can't finish that statement either. Take all the shots you want, judgemental "Star Wars" geeks (*cough*ori*cough*ginals*cough*over*cough*rated*cough*), but I actually think that son of a mountie is actually pretty good; and clearly I'm not the only one who thinks that, considering that he got a nod from the Golden Globes for "Life as a House"; but then again, they gave Pete Sarsgaard a nod for this film, so what do they know? Well, certainly still more than the Oscars now-a-days. But seriously though, as great as Christensen and apparently Sarsgaard are, not even they can edit out the mistakes in this here article.

Among the most damaging things in this film is in the department where it all but counts the most: the early acts. True, the hook is slick, appealing and generally great, but that only makes the sudden and drastic drop in compellingness that much harder to accept. The earlier acts of the film are non-linear, and that would be great and all were it not for a long series of expendable, sometimes repetative scenes and the slowness landing a heavy blow to your engagement and by extension, your teather to the non-linear narrative; leaving the film the get quite convoluted early on. Sure, the narrative smooths out as the film progresses, but by that time, you're a little too far out of the film; and it doesn't help that the unengaging slowness is still there to all but keep you out all together; and when your film is one big mystery, you can't afford to do that; nor can you afford to be predictable like this film gets to be. If you're going to make some major missteps like that, then you better have your strengths at the ready to pull you back in every time you get knocked out. Well, sure enough, although it's too late for this story to fix its mistakes, there's still enough strength to this piece to keep you reading.

The film's compellingness is a very slow rise, but when Billy Ray's storytelling picks up, it takes off, keeping the film fascinating, as well as tense. Sadly, that tension only comes in because of the predictability of the film, but really, it's a dream accomplishment when you can exploit the predictability of a film to set tension and keep the audience invested, rather than bored as a story unravels to the foreseen point. For this investment, we not only have Billy Ray to thank, but his cast of humanly diverse and colorful performers, all of whom keep you going with some snappy dialogue when there's nothing for them to do dramatically. However, when the story does unravel, the performers really drive things home, particularly a not terribly stellar, but still smoothly subtle Peter Sarsgaard and, of course, leading man Hayden Christensen. Sure, he's playing Hayden Christensen again, but that kind of dorky, yet snappy charm fits the role like a glove and completely convinces you of all the hype surrounding Stephen Glass. Both he and Sarsgaard are a dream team when it comes to setting tense, compelling chemistry; and as their relationship - and the film with it - comes to a head, you're glued to the screen, not caring who outacting who (*cough*Chris*tensen*cough*great*cough*); you're just wondering how it all came to this point and who you should feel for. Even in the home stretch, it's Christensen that comes out on top, setting a subtle, yet powerful tone that leaves you with many questions and much shock as he, alongside director Billy Ray, carry the powerful compellingness that makes the ending so incredible and a perfect, neatly tight wrap-up to this ultimately thought-provoking tale, particularly at the applause sequence at the end, which is one heck of an example of a soft-spoken, but strongly palpable definative capper, as it leaves you in dead silent awe as the film completely defines itself and leaves you with more than enough to chew on.

Somewhere in gothic literature heaven, Nathaniel Hawthorne is smiling as I say that this film suffers from often unengaging slowness, caused by a momentarily convoluted, yet consistently overpacked narrative that's made worse by predictability; but as the story unravels, director Billy Ray makes up for that predictability with compellingness that is further carried by colorful performances, especially that of leading man Hayden Christensen, who's strong embodyment of the notorious journalist and tensely fascinating acting dance with Peter Sarsgaard leave "Shattered Glass" to stand as a - as said best by the short, sweet and to the point consensus - "compelling look at Stephen Glass' fall from grace.".

3/5 - Good.