While I found Shattered Glass aggravating, it was incredibly engrossing and I loved it.The reason I found it aggravating is that Stephen Glass is quite an annoying individual and I can't really accept that someone didn't call BS every time he spoke. Being based on true events, the stories told in the film must have been vastly over the top compared to anything that really happened for any of it to work. Peter Sarsgaard and Steve Zahn were terrific and Christensen must have done a great job playing the role, because I hated the character and wanted to witness his demise. Chloe Sevigny on the hand is horrible here and in every film she has ever been in! Then there is Chad Donella who commanded the screen in the great episode "Hungry" from the X-Files, playing another minor role in a film instead of being the star.

Coming in at a mere 93 minutes, this hidden little gem of a movie seems to take a bit longer to watch, but for all the right reasons. Watching a young, bright, but terribly flawed young man commit slow-motion career suicide that both betrays his friends and endangers their own reputations and livelihood is indeed uncomfortable, but is also what makes this film mesmerizing knowing that it is mostly real.Hayden Christensen's portrayal of Stephen Glass is that of a rather pathetic character whose willingness to not only deceive his readers and colleagues in pursuit of instant fame but also to continue to dig his professional grave ever deeper rather than cop to his fraud. Christensen's performance is convincing and workmanlike but not particularly memorable.The performance that IS memorable - so much that his character becomes the moral center of the film and steals the show - is that by Peter Sarsgaard of editor Charles Lane. Anyone who has been unwillingly thrust into a seemingly premature promotion under unfavorable circumstances (in this case replacing a much-loved editor who's been fired for sticking up for his writers) can immediately appreciate Lane's discomfort. That discomfort, expertly exuded by Sarsgaard, becomes interlaced with panic and eventually anger as he slowly realizes the magnitude of Glass' fraud and his ever-more-desperate attempts to maintain it. While his anger grows, so does his confidence in his own abilities, which is demonstrated with expert subtlety.The film's ability to end on an upbeat note, as the writing staff finally comes to appreciate Lane's predicament and concern for their feelings and reputations, both of which have been damaged by the colleague they've wrongfully defended most of the film, is welcome.The only criticism of this film is that it never really explains what was unique about Glass that made him fabricate stories, sources, and characters on such a scale. Most professional writers seek the approval of their peers, readers, and editors and the success that comes with getting great stories printed, but don't normally go to Glass' lengths to reach those goals. What drove Glass to go in such a misguided direction is never laid out.

I really enjoyed watching this. It is important for us to sometimes to have a peek into journalist world. This film is an excellent portrayal of what happens often in the journalist circles, and we small mortals do not even have a chance to know a lot about it.Plot is very interesting, and as far as I understand it is based on the true events. I enjoyed every minute of it. Well done script writers! Acting is also excellent, I love Peter Sarsgaard, not because he has the same name like me, but because he looks and acts like he is myopic (no hard feelings Pete, I hope to see you in many more film, I am like your fan). Do you have your facebook fan page? Not to forget those cute little young actresses. Mmmmm, wouldn*t be nice to see them in those OTHER films? ;) All in all, I strongly recommend this film!

"Once a liar, always a liar", my father once told me. Lying can be very deadly to people. You start off by only telling one lie, then end up having to tell another just to verify the first one. That is where the domino effect begins, you have to keep making up lies over and over again just to protect yourself. Instead, you just end up spinning yourself into a web that you can never really seem to untangle without hurting everyone around you. In the movie "Shattered Glass", a young writer by the name of Stephen Glass, got an amazing job as a journalist for the popular magazine The New Republic in his early 20's. His career hit off and he wrote 41 stories that bring an exciting new touch to the magazine. People loved reading his articles, until one day Mr. Glasses life came crumbling down. Twenty-seven out of forty-one article were either partially or completely fabricated. The New Republic could not tolerate this because they did not support non-fiction what-so-ever. Stephen found himself lying about everything just to cover up his tracks. He wanted a short cut to fame, but just wound up friendless, jobless, and completely untrustworthy. He would never be able to find a successful journalist career after that, because his word wasn't worth anything anymore. I thought film was alright (I would probably give it a 7.5 out of 10). It was based off a true story, which I enjoy a lot in films, and it has a really good ending. It also teaches a good lesson about lying and how the sweat and tears are worth the outcome. Cheating your way never works, you will end up at the bottom faster than you got to the top. You should never put yourself in a web of lies, because as my father once also shared with me, "honesty is the best policy".