Before expressing what seemed to me to be shortcomings, I should state in all fairness that "Shattered Glass" is one very well made movie. It's tightly woven and extremely well acted by all which makes for compelling viewing. However, overall it leaves a far lesser impact than one might expect.
Perhaps the crime in question is not as sensational as the film would have us believe. In this age of the internet where nobody can take written text (or images for that matter) on face value as being honest, one can hardly get too steamed up about a magazine journalist faking stories. Without wishing to justify such practices, it's not quite the same as the faking of experiment results that top scientists have at times been guilty of. After all, very little harm was done as a result of his well written and entertaining writings. Yet the fervor with which Glass is hounded would have us believe him guilty of the most heinous of crimes.
The motivation and personality of the fabricator are surely the really interesting aspects in such a story. Very little is offered in terms of storyline and background as to Glass's complex character. We are left to make our own assessments as to his mind set, based upon Hayden Christensen's sensitive portrayal of his character's downward spiral. The emphasis is placed rather on the process of finding him out which is less interesting than the motivating factors that caused the talented Glass to fabricate his stories.
This is basically a tale of morality and the film smacks a bit too much of self righteousness particularly in its final scene. Still, there's much to recommend here, in particular Sarsgaard and Christensen's spot on performances.
Perhaps the crime in question is not as sensational as the film would have us believe. In this age of the internet where nobody can take written text (or images for that matter) on face value as being honest, one can hardly get too steamed up about a magazine journalist faking stories. Without wishing to justify such practices, it's not quite the same as the faking of experiment results that top scientists have at times been guilty of. After all, very little harm was done as a result of his well written and entertaining writings. Yet the fervor with which Glass is hounded would have us believe him guilty of the most heinous of crimes.
The motivation and personality of the fabricator are surely the really interesting aspects in such a story. Very little is offered in terms of storyline and background as to Glass's complex character. We are left to make our own assessments as to his mind set, based upon Hayden Christensen's sensitive portrayal of his character's downward spiral. The emphasis is placed rather on the process of finding him out which is less interesting than the motivating factors that caused the talented Glass to fabricate his stories.
This is basically a tale of morality and the film smacks a bit too much of self righteousness particularly in its final scene. Still, there's much to recommend here, in particular Sarsgaard and Christensen's spot on performances.