The Glass House (2001)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Daniel Sackheim

Writer (WGA):

Wesley Strick (written by)

Release Date:

14 September 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

It's time to kick some Glass.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Car Accident | Car | Video Game | Lawyer | Trust Fund

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

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

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37273) | Malaysia:18PL | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | Finland:K-15 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Continuity: When the kids are in the police car, the first shot from inside reveals a shotgun pointed upward between the front seats in the middle of the car. The shotgun disappears and reappears in subsequent shots.

Quotes:

Rhett Clark Baker: [Ruby is trying to take off Rhett's pants to get him changed] Hey! Stop looking!
Ruby Baker: Yeah! Like there's something to see!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

Soundtrack:

Sotto Voce

nice time killer

Not bad but not great, so it's sure to be rerun on cable 200 times a month. Lee Lee seems awfully sour here but she's nothing compared to Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard who are obviously slumming for a quick paycheck. Lane looks wasted most of the time, no doubt cuz she's playing a junkie and Skarsgard is just too slimey to be much of anything but a rather eely villain. At least the revenge premise if nicely fulfilled by the end so you can finally cheer for sour faced Lee Lee and the young actor playing her easily manipulated brother, Rhett. All the time, I kept thinking: why didn't they just live with their uncle, but of course, if they did that, there'd be no story. Enjoyable violence offsets the predictable script and even some strong acting can be found inside the implausible situations. The best character was Kathy Baker's social worker who is only in the picture maybe 6 to 7 minutes tops. Ah well, they can't all be Citizen Kane...