Young writer, Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen) worked as a writer on the highly regarded American current affairs magazine, The New Republic. Since he was also freelancing for the likes of Harper's, George and Rolling Stone, Glass was considered to be one of the brightest talents working in American journalism and appeared to be destined for great things. However, what his employers weren't aware of was that Glass was actually fabricating many of his stories, making up at least two dozen articles for The New Republic alone. Having duped his bosses (including a nicely played Hank Azaria and Chloe Sevigny) with a carefully executed ah-shucks routine; Glass's flights of fancy grew more frequent and extreme. However, soon after Charles Lane (Peter Sarsgaard) is appointed at The New Republic, Glass's duplicity becomes too complex and others at the magazine start to notice the inconsistencies in his work.
Based on a Vanity Fair article, Shattered Glass is a compelling, intelligent look at the world of high-level journalism (where the pressure for continuous, far reaching success is extraordinary) and a convincing portrait of the sheer vanity and arrogance which often accompanies such a position. Christensen shows an awful lot more depth than he managed in Attack of the Clones (blame George Lucas for that) - his false modesty never misses a beat while his child-like need for affection from his peers is both endearing and ultimately, rather unnerving. Tellingly, writer-director Billy Ray never tries to offer a pat explanation for Glass's actions. Motivations are hinted at, but trite conclusions would have undermined what is a forceful examination of the weakness of the human spirit.
