There are some professions where we have been conditioned to place our trust since their job description seems to entail a sense of integrity and honesty that should never be betrayed. It is one of the most significant failures of the human condition that we tend to put blind faith in people just based on their chosen vocation, since even when the vast majority lives up to these standards, there are still many examples of those who betray this trust, which occurs for several reasons. Journalism is a tricky career since those who follow this path are expected to be neutral, and honest and should act in the best interests of the general public, delivering objective facts that are well-researched and informative. This is the case for most journalists, but like with any field of work, there are some notable examples of those who deviate massively from these principles, instead of going in their direction for whatever reason. This brings us to the story of Stephen Glass – hailed as a wunderkind based on his exceptional writing skills, intelligence and friendly nature that made him a popular member of his team at The New Republic, a magazine that has always prided itself on objective, well-written stories, he fell from grace faster than he ascended after it was discovered that the majority of his writings were fabricated – either he manipulated facts of real stories, or just made up entire scandals just so that he could report on it. This has been dramatised in the form of Shattered Glass, in which Billy Ray directs his adaptation of the Glass scandal, taking inspiration from the article published in Vanity Fair by Buzz Bissinger (who is a famously eccentric journalist in his own right), which explored this story and presented a sobering picture of how some journalists are notorious for taking advantage of their resources and position as trusted sources, and how this can have an enormous impact on the entire profession as a whole.

As a Hollywood insider who worked for years as a writer before making his directorial debut with this film, Ray seemed like an intriguing candidate to helm Shattered Glass, even if he was not the most obvious choice. Known more for penning screenplays for films within the action and war genres, the idea of him shifting gears and tackling an intimate, character-based drama not only as a writer but also as a director was a risk, but one that worked out splendidly since this is one of his defining works, perhaps only overtaken by his heartbreaking and tense screenplay for Captain Phillips, which once again focused on a true story. Not the most consistent visual stylist, and someone who was still working out the minor flaws in his directorial approach, Ray puts in a lot of effort when constructing this film, which proves to be an unexpectedly captivating drama that exceeds the limits of the traditional character-based potboiler, and becomes something unique, even if it is slightly more uneven at times, which requires us to become acclimated to his style and approach to the material. This was a solid choice for him to make his debut as a director – it is simple enough that he could comfortably helm the production without needing to be too concerned about directorial flair. Still, it is also sufficiently captivating in terms of the story, which is vibrant and filled to the brim with complex ideas that are far-removed from his previous writing credits to indicate that he intended to be taken more seriously. Shattered Glass is an objectively compelling film, and a lot of that is due to Ray’s wonderful writing and directing, with the swift and brisk nature of the film being part of the appeal that drives this story forward.

It isn’t clear what drove Ray to this material, but it is obvious that there is something quite peculiar about the Glass scandal that even those without an invested interest in the trials and tribulations of the journalism community would be able to understand and appreciate in some way. The journalistic jargon is restricted to only key moments, and the appeal of the story comes in how Ray finds the universal emotions in this scandal, which proved to be a source of a lot of discussion and debate over the years, leading to quite a challenging situation for the staff of this magazine. Ray constructs Shattered Glass as a relatively traditional drama, focusing on the facts and adding unique touches where they were necessary, showing that he did possess some directorial flair, at least enough to overcome some of the more challenging aspects of the material. It turns this film into a harsh psychological thriller, a film about the slow and steady decline of a young man who stood on the top of the world, but like Icarus, flying too close to his son was his downfall, and it is difficult to feel sympathy for someone whose entire identity was formed from trying to take advantage of others, fooling not only his colleagues but the general public as a whole. Ray works closely with the original article, expanding on some of its more challenging ideas to create a distinct and often quite tense drama that provides a detailed account of the titular character’s fall from grace, showing the demise of his career without any sense of sympathy, showing the consequences of deceit in a way that is both deeply unsettling and thought-provoking.

A film like Shattered Glass is always going to depend on the strength of its actors, and we find that Ray makes very notable decisions in terms of who to cast. Hayden Christensen was at the peak of his popularity at this time (although some may suggest notoriety is a more appropriate descriptor), and as both the dashing lead of a major franchise and as someone willing to do more artistically resonant works in between blockbusters, he was being positioned as a very prominent young actor, which decides to cast him as Stephen Glass logical. As a performance, this is quite a divisive experience, and it is not unfair to say that Christensen was still finding his voice as an actor around this time, which makes his work here slightly uneven. In the parts where we see the more sinister side of Glass, Christensen is exceptional, and he thrives in playing the cold, calculated sociopath with a knack for dishonesty, as well as someone who will fall to the ground in a passionate plea to get another chance. These are the moments when the performance works, but they come relatively late in the film, and they are preceded by multiple scenes where Glass is shown to be a pleasant and charismatic presence, and Christensen struggles to sell these scenes quite as much as he does the others. However, he is still a very capable lead, and his performance leaves an imprint where it matters the most, which is the important part. He is joined by an ensemble cast that includes the always reliable Peter Sarsgaard as the only person who sees through Glass and his facade, as well as Hank Azaria, who is at his most sympathetic. Chloe Sevigny, Melanie Lynskey and Rosario Dawson are all wonderful, doing great work that proves their talents. It’s a strong cast that blends well into the story, and while no one is doing groundbreaking work, there is a consistency that makes this film so actively charming in ways that are sometimes quite difficult to describe without giving too much away.

There is something oddly satisfying about seeing a journalist become a news story themselves, and Glass has been suitably derided and rejected from many fields as a result of this scandal, and even a quarter of a century later, his legacy as a notorious and compulsive liar lingers over his head. Shattered Glass expertly captures his fall from grace in detail, presenting a solid deconstruction of the scandal, while also finding peculiar aspects in his story and expanding on them to show the importance of journalistic integrity, and simply the virtue of telling the truth, regardless of career path. There is a lack of sincerity in this film, but that adds to the overall experience – it’s not a film that is free of its shortcomings, and Ray was still developing as a director, which can be seen in the more jagged edges found throughout the film. However, it has a strong sense of steadfast dedication to understanding this character. It takes a lot of effort to position a film around a character like Stephen Glass and make him fascinating without causing the audience to feel any sense of sympathy towards him, which is a difficult task, and one that is perfectly executed throughout this film. Conventional in scope, but quite fascinating in how it develops on a number of its ideas, Shattered Glass is a captivating film about the consequences of dishonesty and the very clear fact that the more grandiose the pride, the higher the fall – and in this case of the central character in this film, his tumble towards humility is both insightful and disturbing, since it exposes deeper truths about an industry supposedly built on honesty and integrity when in reality it can be just as corrupt as any other profession.