The Glass House (2001) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/
"Even the guardians let down their guard."
Starring Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane, Stellan Skarsgard, Bruce Dern. Directed by Daniel Sackheim. Rated PG-13.
The Glass House is a fun little piece of schlock, a soft thriller with some good ideas and a proactive heroine. Its plot is too obvious to provide any real what-happens-next suspense, but there are still moments here to treasure. And, if after seeing her in some seven movies, I still say that lead actress Leelee Sobieski "shows promise," it's because she hasn't been given a real role yet (no, Here on Earth doesn't count, and I haven't seen her in the title role of the tv movie Joan of Arc).
Here she plays Ruby Baker, a relatively average teenager who goes to school, smokes up and has wild nights out with her friends unbeknownst to her parents. When said parents are killed in a car accident, Ruby and her younger brother have to move in with the Glasses, a rich couple with an amazing house in Malibu and seemingly unlimited funds at their disposal.
But in this house, as the film's advertising didn't fail to tell us a thousand times, things are not as they seem. It soon becomes obvious to everyone but the main character that the Glasses, well-played by Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard, plan to use Ruby and her brother as their "personal piggy-bank," using the money left to them in their parents' will, as well as incidentals like their private school tuition, to pay off their enormous debts.
The Glass House really doesn't come together as well as it could have, what with the lapses in logic and virtual lack of tension outside of neat individual moments. But the movie is well-photographed by tv-veteran director Daniel Sackheim, and it has a marvelous production design: the house itself, with its imposing architecture and, appropriately, glass walls, has its own menace aside from that of its shady occupants.
I also liked the back-and-forth between Ruby and her brother, a series of authentic exchanges that is a welcome respite from the contrived trappings of the thriller's main storyline. Sobieski, true to form, manages to build a character from a screenplay that doesn't give her one; I'd still like to see her pull a Thora Birch and do something unconventional. If she can do this much with a script that actually exhibits below-average level of writing, he sky's the limit. And comedy remains an entirely unexplored field.
Diane Lane has slipped under Hollywood's collective radar -- I don't think I've ever actually seen her name in print outside of the obligatory "starring" blurb -- but she is a dependable actress, skilled at portraying seemingly everyday characters with something else under the surface. And you almost feel sorry for Stellan Skarsgard, a pure character actor who doesn't seem to be having a good time; this script is a deathtrap.
A better film could have been made from this material. I could have used more careful plotting and less of the characters having to catch up to us. I'm recommending The Glass House, though, because there's something inherently appealing about its plot (it's hard to completely screw up an orphan-makes-good tale); perhaps also because I watched it right after The Musketeer, which momentarily destroyed my faith in cinema.
Grade: B-
Up Next: Bandits
©2001 Eugene Novikov
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