 For newspaper critics -- who are also, by definition, journalists -- Shattered Glass, a film about Stephen Glass, who fabricated some two dozen articles for The New Republic magazine in 1998, may hold a special fascination, which comes through in their reviews. A. O. Scott in the New York Times observes that the film "is a serious, well-observed examination of the practice of journalism, and if it takes note of the vanity and obsessiveness that are among the vices of the profession, it also acknowledges (and perhaps romanticizes) the hard work and idealism that are among its virtues." Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News makes the extraordinary comment: "I have hated the idea of this movie since it was announced. First of all, it is inside journalism. ... More to the point, it irks the ink out of me to see [New Republic editor Charles] Lane exalted as a hero for doing what any responsible editor would do, then being paid to consult on his own canonization [for the film]. If you're still interested, the movie is agreeably well-written and ... it does resemble All the President's Men in the way it attempts to turn the drudgery of research into high drama." Joe Morgenstern comments that the movie "brings the ring of truth to its tale" and acknowledges that the screen version of the New Republic "certainly feels like magazines I've worked for." And Kenneth Turan concludes in the Los Angeles Times: "Since journalists are notoriously obsessed with their own affairs, it's to be expected that a motion picture based on l'affaire Glass would be essential viewing in media circles. What is a most pleasant surprise is how emotionally involving a story writer-director Billy Ray has fashioned, how he's turned Shattered Glass into a film for anyone who cares about strong drama." |
