The Glass House (2001)

An orphaned teenager is taken in by a Malibu couple but discovers they aren't the caring friends they seemed to be.

Director:

Daniel Sackheim

Writer:

Wesley Strick

Stars:

Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane, Stellan Skarsgård

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leelee Sobieski	...	Ruby Baker
Diane Lane	...	Erin Glass
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Terrence 'Terry' Glass
Bruce Dern	...	Begleiter
Kathy Baker	...	Nancy Ryan
Trevor Morgan	...	Rhett Baker
Chris Noth	...	Uncle Jack
Michael O'Keefe	...	Dave Baker
Vyto Ruginis	...	Don
Gavin O'Connor	...	Whitey
Carly Pope	...	Tasha
China Shavers	...	E.B. (as China Jesusita Shavers)
Agnes Bruckner	...	Zoe
Michael Paul Chan	...	Mr. Kim
Rachel Wilson	...	Hannah

Storyline

When Ruby Baker's parents are killed in a car accident, she and her brother, Rhett, must travel to Malibu, to live with Terrence and Erin Glass, their former neighbors. At first, all seems well. Ruby is making new friends at school and Rhett is getting more video games and flashy toys than he's ever had in his life. When Ruby speaks to her family's estate lawyer, he tells her that her parents have left Rhett and her $4 million. Suddenly, Ruby begins to notice odd behavior from Terry and Erin.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | car accident | death | car | inheritance | 

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Taglines:

Be Careful Who You Trust

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Genres:

Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sinister thematic elements, violence, drug content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

14 September 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Glass House

Filming Locations:

Leo Carrillo State Beach - 35000 W. Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,738,448 (USA) (14 September 2001)

Gross:

$17,951,431 (USA) (16 November 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Original Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to their gravestones in the final scene, the date that Mr. and Mrs. Baker died was 15 March 2000.

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Goofs

When Ruby is tapping on her iBook waiting to log onto AOL her fingernails are short. In the next scene when she goes to hit the 'save to memory' button on the telephone her fingernails are considerably longer.

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Quotes

[first lines]
E.B.: [leaving movie] Scared the living crap out of me!
Ruby Baker: Meryl Streep, that girl was not.
Zoe: Who's Meryl Streep?
Tasha: Oh, Zoe, she's like Katie Holmes to our parents, okay?
E.B.: So, what's next ladies?
Ruby Baker: I have to go home.
E.B.: No!
Ruby Baker: Yeah, make... make that a that a block from home. I can't have another close encounter with my parents. They think I'm home in bed...

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Crazy Credits

The first few images of the film appear as if they are made of glass.

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Connections

References Rosemary's Baby (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Soubrette"
Written by Christopher Young

User Reviews

I had low expectations... but luckily, they were not fulfilled!

I had not heard much about "The Glass House", besides unfavorable reviews by critics, who claimed it was a ridiculous display of unintentional humor. However, when I came across it casually on HBO, I was immensely surprised and impressed!

The story was gripping and I loved the character development - which is so rare in thrillers today. I thought the cast was brilliant, especially Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard. Stellan's character was completely chilling, and he played it so effectively. And Diane's character was also wonderfully displayed - despite her terrible actions at times, you can't help but empathize with her a bit, due to Diane's emotional investment in the role. And Trevor Morgan (who I also recently saw in "A Rumor of Angels") is sure to do very well on the big screen for years to come... he's very good for such a young kid. And Leelee Sobieski... she was weak at times, but I felt that she was perfect for the part. She has kind of an authentic look to her and she was casted very well for the part. She had on-screen appeal without being too obnoxiously cutsie. She did a fair job, certainly enough to fulfil the director's vision of the movie - I'm sure of that.

As far as the story goes, it's got everything you could want in a thriller. There were some holes, but some of my favorite movies of all-time have holes and I think it's really too much to ask for a perfect film. But it's downfall was that at times it was a bit predictable - but for me, that only enhanced the movie's suspense.

I greatly enjoyed this movie and I think you will too. I'll agree with the critics that there are some technical flaws in some of the story's details - but over all, the story was very compelling and told VERY well, great development of it's characters and all the events were portrayed very believably, the director definitely kept the audience's trust and attention. So, I recommend it - despite the critic's bashing of the film. Personally, as a teenager, I thought the portrayal of LeeLee's high school was very realistic and so that definitely caught my attention in a good way. Little things like that, that are usually not apparent in most movies today, certainly made up for other little flaws. So, go catch it on HBO or rent it! It's good!