Shattered Glass

Exponentially more talented than he's gotten credit for as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode 2--Attack of the Clones, Hayden Christensen absolutely shines in this biopic of a real-life star reporter for The New Republic in the late 1990s whose ditheringly wholesome but needy, self-effacing humility hid a compulsive urge to fabricate, fabricate, fabricate. Stephen Glass was the overeager young journalist's name, and of his 41 often startling, exposé-style stories for the influential Washington, DC magazine, 27 were pure bull pucky. Yet through Christensen's economical soft-shoe performance, Glass's zeal and obliging modesty work the same disarming hoodoo on the viewer as they do on his snake-oiled coworkers. Writer-director Billy Ray approaches Shattered Glass with an understated Hitchcockian flair, letting Glass's deception unfold before the audience as it is uncovered by two reporters (Steve Zahn and Rosario Dawson) from a rival publication. And while it's not altogether clear how all of the 26-year-old reporter's trumped-up articles got past the respected magazine's fact checkers, the film's minor unanswered questions are overshadowed by the outstanding performances, sly tinge of irony, and layers of complexity. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary with director Billy Ray and former New Republic editor Chuck Lane, a 13-minute 60 Minutes interview with the real Stephen Glass, and trailers. Bottom line: a smart extras package marrying fact and fiction for one of 2003's better films.] (R. Blackwelder)