Watergate stands out as the quintessential scandal of the past half-century, which has lost much, if not all, of its relevance over time. With the public becoming increasingly cynical and politicians losing much of their moral authority, the myths surrounding Watergate, immortalised in Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men, have long since died. One of the myths to be unravelled was the narrative of heroic journalists uncovering a dangerous conspiracy and safeguarding democracy. In today’s world, where social networks have begun to replace mainstream media, journalists are perceived more as part of the system—either cogs in a corporate machine of psychological manipulation or, even worse, sociopaths who wield the little power and influence they have in the most petty way possible. One of the films to address these issues before such trends became apparent was Shattered Glass, a 2003 drama written and directed by Billy Ray.
The film is based on a 1998 Vanity Fair article by H. G. Bissinger, describing one of the major journalistic scandals in 1990s America. The plot begins in 1995 in the editorial offices of The New Republic, one of America’s most respected and influential weekly magazines. Stephen Glass (played by Hayden Christensen) is a young journalist who quickly becomes one of the most popular members of staff, thanks both to his charming personality and the exciting articles he writes. He swiftly becomes the magazine’s star reporter, while his editor Michael Kelly (played by Hank Azaria) chooses to ignore certain questionable details in one of his stories. Everything changes in 1998 following Glass’ article about a teenage hacker being hired as a security specialist for a software company. The article catches the attention of Adam Penenberg (played by Steve Zahn), an investigative journalist for Forbes Digital. After Penenberg’s attempts to find any confirmation for the claims made in the article fail, he concludes that the story is bogus and confronts The New Republic with his findings. The new editor of The New Republic is unpopular Chuck Lane (played by Peter Saarsgard), a former colleague of Glass. Initially reluctant to go against the magazine’s star and editorial staff’s darling, he starts his own investigation into Penenberg’s claims while Glass desperately tries to prove that he didn’t fabricate the story.
It isn’t surprising that Shattered Glass was made within the realm of American independent cinema. It deals with serious issues in a very serious manner and, more importantly, it shatters the illusion—the very core of the business upon which mainstream Hollywood is based. The film’s pace is excellent; direction is solid, as are the dialogues. The only criticism could be found in the framing device—a fantasy scene during which Glass, now a highly regarded member of journalistic aristocracy, gives a lecture to awestruck high school students. This scene provides excessive foreshadowing, diminishing the impact of revelations later in the film.
The acting is also very good. The role of Glass is so far the best in Christensen’s career—he is much more convincing as a real-life pathetic loser than as a tragic antihero from Lucas’ fictional universe. Peter Saarsgard as the troubled editor is much more effective, while Zahn gives an uncharacteristically subdued yet adequate performance as Glass’ nemesis. Other actors are also fine, although their roles—like Glass’ office cheerleaders played by Melanie Lynskey and Chloë Sevigny—serve more to provide big names for posters rather than to fulfil a dramatic purpose.
Although some commentators criticised Shattered Glass for its alleged lack of objectivity, based on Chuck Lane serving as an advisor for the film, Billy Ray’s work can be interpreted as criticism of the entire journalistic establishment to which Lane belongs. The self-righteous guardians of liberal democracy and public interest allowed themselves to be duped by a not particularly distinguished individual simply to maintain the illusion of their professional integrity. By including references to Monicagate, the creator of Shattered Glass suggests that such self-deluding mindsets can flourish even in utopian times of peace and economic progress; just as Clinton allowed himself to be tarnished due to personal arrogance, so did American media. In a way, the affair described in the film was just one crack in a structure that would collapse on September 11th 2001 and trigger invasions of Iraq, financial crises, and many other catastrophes of the 21st century. Journalists would play major roles in these events by creating narratives as false as those crafted by Stephen Glass; however, their journalistic integrity and willingness to deceive became part of an institution rather than an aberrant action by a single individual. If Shattered Glass was intended as a warning, it wasn’t heeded—at least not by those who mattered.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
(Note: Original version of the review is available here.)
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