THE GLASS HOUSE A film review by Joshua Tyler Copyright 2001 filmcritic.com
People who live in glass houses... better not have much to hide. Because sooner or later, you'll get caught with your pants down, leaving everything hanging out for everyone to see.
The Glass House stars everyone's favorite Helen Hunt clone, Leelee Sobieski, as half of a sister-brother duo who move in with family friends after the untimely deaths of their parents. Little does she know that her new guardian's motives are less than altruistic and it's up to her to protect herself and her brother.
Few would classify Sobieski as a big movie opener, but she, much like several other actors her age, has slowly been building her career with notable roles in notable movies, and her burgeoning confidence shows here.
There is little to fault in The Glass House as a whole. Competently put together, smartly acted, The Glass House is a continual slow build toward revelation and resolution. I for one was totally hooked, until the final few moments, when after bursts of shock and terror, The Glass House shatters into a thousand pieces. Suddenly, the film casts off its smart, suspenseful garb and trades that in for a final few moments of homage to cheap slasher flicks and Hollywood murder clichés.
Even with its unworthy ending, The Glass House is a wholly entertaining and thoughtful flick. If nothing else, it scores points by avoiding the ridiculous teen angst so often seen in other films with young casts. Instead, Glass House chooses to use the realities of a parental death and its effect on children as a springboard to disturbing and dangerous possibilities.
Without a more intelligent ending befitting its finely crafted build-up, The Glass House dodges the realm of Hitchcockian excitement. But even without a proper resolution to bring things home, director Daniel Sackheim doesn't get caught with his pants down in his feature film debut.
RATING: ***1/2
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Daniel Sackheim Producer: Neal H. Moritz, Michael I. Rachmil Writer: Wesley Strick Starring: Diane Lane, Leelee Sobieski, Stellan Skarsgård, Rita Wilson, Bruce Dern, Michael O'Keefe, Trevor Morgan
http://www.spe.sony.com/movies/theglasshouse/
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