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:

Trust can be as transparent as glass.

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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 signing on to AOL to check her e-mail, the modem can be heard dialing and connecting before she actually clicks the 'sign on' button.

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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 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

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Soundtracks

"This Too Shall Pass"
Written by Christopher Young

User Reviews

Predictable teen thriller

The plot: After her parents die in a sudden car accident, a teenage girl becomes suspect her new guardians have sinister motives.

This movie is obviously meant for teenagers. The girls can identify with the protagonist, while the boys can ogle the her, as she has several exploitative scenes. It's a bit of a clichéd, predictable thriller, but I doubt that teens will be very critical of it.

Most of the movie is a cat-and-mouse game between the protagonist and her guardians. Throughout the movie, all the adult authority figures are shown to be useless. It's a cheesy tactic used in most teen thrillers, so that the teen protagonists actually have something to do, besides wait for an adult to save them. For adults, it often ends up seeming a bit forced and difficult to believe.

Several of the characters are introduced, then never appear again, like they were completely forgotten. It makes you wonder why they were even introduced. Most perplexing is the uncle, who I would have thought would have custody of his niece and nephew -- but, no, the parents decided to give custody to their next door neighbors! Bizarre. And, when things start to get weird with the next door neighbors, not a single person suggests living with the uncle. It's like everyone forgot that there's even any relatives still alive.

If you're a kid, this movie probably works a lot better. You'll focus on the horror of losing your parents, living with creepy people that you barely know, and moving to a new city. Adults, however, will probably just be bored.