Shattered Glass

Directed by Billy Ray

Written by Buzz Bissinger (article) and

Billy Ray (screenplay)

Starring Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloë Sevigny, Melanie Lynskey, Steve Zahn and Hank Azaria

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

95 minutes runtime

This is a must-see story of the rise and fall of one of the most spectacularly successful scams in the history of modern journalism.  It was perpetrated on the venerable New Republic magazine by one Stephen Glass, a very talented writer with an ambition for success that was underestimated by all.  The NR was founded in 1914 and had grown into one of the most influential magazines of social and political commentary in America.  It trumpeted its status as “The in-flight magazine of Air Force 1,” and placed itself high on the pedestal of absolute truth and reliability.  It checked every fact with a legion of researchers armed with state-of-the-art resources.

Enter Glass in 1995, the editor of his college newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the fastest of the high velocity recruits hired by the NR to work long hours for little pay in the hope of making the big time like Woodward and Bernstein.  But most of those reporters don’t make it to the big time; they just don’t get the right stories to propel themselves into the limelight.  Stephen Glass seemed to get those stories.

The buzz compares this movie to “Almost Famous” in which an honest young writer is almost brought down by the false denials of his rock-star subjects, but the two journalists have nothing in common.  One was honest and one was not.  The movie is also compared with “Chicago,” which is a better match.  Roxie Hart knew how to use the media and manipulated the press to her advantage.  But, still, she was not a dishonest reporter.

But the best match is “Catch Me If You Can.”  The two real-life villains were almost identical in their age and motivation; they were young, impressionable and needed to be great.  Frank Abagnale Jr. printed false cashiers checks and Stephen Glass printed false stories.  But a more important issue is the organizational motives of NR.  The facts were verified by the official New Republic procedures, one of which was to check the story against the reporter’s original hand-written notes.  Did I hear that right?  It was certainly no big effort for Glass to falsify his notes as well as his stories.  At some point one has to wonder whether the editors wanted to check the stories, or were just going through the motions.  The pieces were so successful, to what degree was management complicit?  Did Glass really put one over on the entire staff of one of the greatest magazines in America?  Or was his con so influential that he brainwashed the staff into not seeing the obvious?  (Once he was established at the NR, he did the same thing to “George” and “Rolling Stone.”  Presumably they were so taken with the fidelity of the NR that Glass could do no wrong.)

No matter where you come down on that question, the story of life on the staff of the New Republic is fascinating in and of itself, even without the scandal factor.  It is an inside look at an environment of extreme motivation to succeed.  Glass not only starred as the reporter with the great stories, he led the charge in verifying the facts of the even younger writers under him.  He tore their stories to ribbons, preaching veracity above all.  He knew instinctively that the best defense is an offense.  How do you attack someone for lying when he is so busy keeping everyone else from lying?  For further analysis, read “The Crucible.”

In 1998 Stephen Glass’ success story came to an end that was violent in the emotions it evinced in the NR staff.  Some of them were ready to resign over his firing; they were so sure of his innocence.  According to the movie, only a few days later, faced with the facts, Glass had not one supporter left on the staff.  The illusion could not survive without his larger-than-life presence in the staff room.

Hayden Christensen gives us a great performance as Stephen Glass, especially good as the fraud is uncovered by Chuck Lane and Glass is confronted with lie after lie.  The viewer finds it hard to discern whether Glass is continuing with the lies long after the cause is lost, or whether he is sincerely incapable of accepting the truth of his failure.  He must have come close to insanity.  Likewise, Peter Sarsgaard plays a great part as Chuck Lane, the managing editor who finally brings down the scam by actually taking Glass to the site of the final story, an imaginary computer hackers convention.  When Lane and Glass find out together from the security guard that the building was closed on the day of the alleged convention, we see Glass’ world fall apart in his eyes.  Chloë Sevigny, Melanie Lynskey, Steve Zahn and Hank Azaria round out the excellent cast.

Since his departure from NR, Glass finished law school at Georgetown and is currently living in New York City (this received the expected laugh from the audience at the Angelika).  But the story is not over yet.  Glass has written a novel, entirely fictional of course, about a young journalist who fabricates stories that are published in a leading commentary magazine.  Any relation to those living or dead is purely coincidental.  Is he making money from this novel?  You bet your bylines he is.  CBS says the advance alone is in six figures.  Glass was interviewed about the book and his motives for writing it on “60 Minutes” last August.  Glass has completed and passed the written exam to practice law in the state of New York, but has not yet been admitted to the bar.  There may be questions regarding his character and his fitness to practice law (really?).  Considering that situation, the real climax of Stephen Glass’ story may be still to come.