Shattered Glass (2003)

The true story of a young journalist who fell from grace when it was found he had fabricated over half of his articles.

Director:

Billy Ray

Writers:

Buzz Bissinger (article), Billy Ray

Stars:

Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloë Sevigny

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hayden Christensen	...	Stephen Glass
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Charles 'Chuck' Lane
Chloë Sevigny	...	Caitlin Avey
Rosario Dawson	...	Andy Fox
Melanie Lynskey	...	Amy Brand
Hank Azaria	...	Michael Kelly
Steve Zahn	...	Adam Penenberg
Mark Blum	...	Lewis Estridge
Simone-Élise Girard	...	Catarina Bannier
Chad Donella	...	David Bach
Jamie Elman	...	Aaron Bluth
Luke Kirby	...	Rob Gruen
Cas Anvar	...	Kambiz Foroohar
Linda Smith	...	Gloria (as Linda E. Smith)
Ted Kotcheff	...	Marty Peretz

Storyline

This film tells the true story of fraudulent Washington, D.C. journalist Stephen Glass (Christensen), who rose to meteoric heights as a young writer in his 20s, becoming a staff writer at "The New Republic" for three years (1995-1998), where 27 of his 41 published stories were either partially or completely made up. Looking for a short cut to fame, Glass concocted sources, quotes and even entire stories, but his deception did not go unnoticed forever, and eventually, his world came crumbling down...

---

Plot Keywords:

writer | journalist | washington d.c. | stephen glass | the new republic | 

---

Taglines:

Read between the lies.

---

Genres:

Drama | History

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references and brief drug use

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 December 2003 (Greece)

Also Known As:

A hazugsággyáros

Filming Locations:

Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£46,921 (UK) (14 May 2004)

Gross:

£46,921 (UK) (14 May 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lions Gate Films, Cruise/Wagner Productions, Baumgarten Merims Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hanna Rosin, a real life journalist who was a colleague of both Stephen Glass and Chuck Lane, worked as an adviser to writer/director Billy Ray. The character of Catlin Avery was based loosely on Hanna Rosin.

---

Goofs

When Stephen Glass and Mike Kelly talked about Glass's predicament, and Kelly asked Glass if he ever cooked a story when he was the New Republic's editor-in-chief, the scene occurred at Kelly's current place of work. In the DVD commentary, director Billy Ray said although such a conversation did occur between both Glass and Kelly, it was not at Kelly's place of work, but in fact at Mike Kelly's house. Ray went on to say that Glass's real life girlfriend was present during the actual discussion, but she was not even depicted in the film version of the discussion.

---

Quotes

Caitlin Avey: What the hell did you do to Steve? He called me from his car, hysterical. I asked him what was wrong, he said, "ask Chuck?"
Chuck Lane: I fired him, okay? Not suspended, fired. Because this wasn't an isolated incident Caitlin. He cooked a dozen of them, maybe more. And we're going to have to go through them, you and I. We're going to have to go through all of them, now.
Caitlin Avey: No, the only one was Hack Heaven. He told me that himself.
Chuck Lane: If he were a stranger to you, if he was a guy you were doing a piece about, ...
[...]

---

Connections

Featured in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004)

---

Soundtracks

"Blitzkrieg Bop"
(1976)
Written by Joey Ramone (as Jeffrey Hyman), Johnny Ramone (as John Cummings),
Dee Dee Ramone (as Douglas Colvin) and Tommy Ramone (as Thomas Erdelyi)
Performed by Ramones
Published by WB Music Corp. obo Itself and Taco Tunes, Inc. (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Sire Records
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

Walking On, Walking On Broken Glass.

A young D.C. journalist (new "Star Wars" trilogy star Hayden Christensen) for The New Republic political magazine falsifies data and produces fraudulent stories. Slowly but surely his would-be meteoric rise turns into a dizzying downfall. "Boys Don't Cry" alums Peter Saarsgard and Chloe Sevigny are out of this world as Christensen's editor and supportive co-worker. Based on a true story, the picture has a tense documentary feel to it that makes it highly engrossing and fascinating early. The production does begin to tire late though as Christensen's crazed personality starts to come shining through with dementedly over-the-top results. Still a well-paced and intelligent take on American journalism and the pressures associated with the field. Worth a legitimate chance. 4 stars out of 5.