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The Movie: For years in Hollywood one of the key elements in the success of any motion picture is to find a script that can be marketed towards one or preferably more demographic group. It doesn't matter how good a script is if you can't find a way to market it correctly. There have been many good movies that people missed out on because the studio couldn't market the film correctly. In the past year these films include the overlooked gems Wonder Boys and Almost Famous. Almost Famous from director Cameron Crowe was a film that could have been huge with audiences of all ages from the all important teenagers with disposable incomes to the more budget savvy adults and families. However Almost Famous failed to capture much box office attention despite being critically acclaimed. So while worthwhile films continue to get overlooked other less worthy films continue to get made. Many of which are aimed at teens. The teenage audience is one of the studios favorites for a number of reasons. The biggest being that teens tend to have part time jobs and earn lots of expendable money since they don't have to worry about rent/food and families like their parents. It also helps that the majority of teen movies cost very little to make as despite there being some big name teen stars these same stars don't tend to command outrageously high salaries. While some teen movies become huge box office hits like Save the Last Dance which went on to earn over $100 million domestically others like crazy/beautiful don't come close to that. Despite this very few movies aimed at the teen demographic fail to break even yet alone lose money due to their low production costs. Just like "A" and "B" movies teen movies also span into the different sub genres like comedies, dramas and thrillers and of course the countless number of teen horror flicks. The teen thriller genre is one of the least populated teen genres but still the past two years have offered a couple entries. The most notable being the Paul Walker/Josh Jackson film The Skulls which despite it's relatively low box office numbers has is rumored to have done well enough to warrant a sequel. The latest entry into this genre stars one of the few teenage actresses who may move on to an adult career, Leelee Sobieski. The Bakers are your typical American family. They aren't terrible rich but they aren't poor either. They have a lovely house in a nice neighborhood in the valley of California. They have two lovely kids Ruby (Leelee Sobieski) and Rhett (Trevor Morgan - Jurassic Park 3) who like most siblings don't really want anything to do with each other or even get along. Ruby is a tad on the wild side going out all night and partying with her friends when she tells her parents they she is going to a friends house to study. Nothing out of the normal there though. However on the night of her parents wedding anniversary she goes out and upon her arrival back at home she encounters that the police is at her residence. Her immediate reaction is that her parents found out that she wasn't where she was supposed to be and phoned the police to find her. This is not the case and the officers ask Ruby to sit down as they tell her that her parents were involved in a fatal car accident. After the funeral and a meeting with the estate lawyer Ruby and Rhett are placed in the care of the old neighbors Terry (Stellan Skarsgard) and Erin (Diane Lane) Glass who have since come into some money through Terry's business and moved to Malibu. The kids are scared and upset as kids would tend to be in that situation but they have known the Glass's for most of their life and trust that their parents instincts. At their arrival at the house which has an abnormally high number of windows and where there isn't a window glass surrounds them. The first indication that something might be wrong is when the Glasses make Ruby and Rhett share a single room when they have such a large place. Ruby is more upset about this then the younger Rhett but they manage to make it through the first few days with little trouble. After the first few days Ruby begins to think things aren't what they seem with her new guardians as she over hears conversations between Terry and some men regarding money and her phone calls are monitored. Are the Glasses really who they seem or do they have something other then the kids safety on their minds. One of the key elements of a thriller is that the audience should feel in some way thrilled or chilled or surprised at the events in the movie. The thriller should keep audiences at the edge of their seats waiting for the next twist or turn. Sure most thrillers have plot holes that people can pick out and sure a lot of thrillers can be predicted easily but the Glass House is the extreme case. It doesn't meet the first criteria in that it wasn't thrilling, I could see things coming at least 20 minute ahead often longer. Instead of being on the edge of my seat and discovering things along with the character I was waiting for the character to catch up to me. As for plot holes this movie has more holes in it then I've ever seen. Now this could be related to the director deleting footage to quicken the pace of the movie which still felt overly drawn out or it could just be the work of the screenwriter. One scene where the director cuts to some of Ruby's old friends shopping and talking about why they hadn't heard from her was incredibly out of place. Her friends who had some screen time in the opening sequences of the film hadn't been involved in the story for the past hour when they are brought back into it only to offer the typical teenage comments. The reintroduction of these characters does nothing to further the plot and manages only to slow down the pacing even more then it already was. That scene is just one of many that seem out of place in this film. The pacing of some of this film is so slow that I've seen snails move quicker. Looking down the cast list for this film you'd expect a better film as on paper the talent in this film is quite good. Leelee Sobieski get's her first big lead role which she reported got paid a cool million dollars. Ruby Baker is a trouble maker but otherwise strong female character who hates her brother on the outside but inside doesn't want to see harm brought to him. Leelee who has been called a young Helen Hunt has primarily had supporting roles before in films like Eyes Wide Shut and Never Been Kissed where she showed excellent promise. She doesn't show that here though as she walks through the movie displaying little real emotion. I'm sure the only reason she took this role was it that it was a lead role and she got paid quite well for it. One million dollars is a lot of money to a teen. Here's hoping that her that her next top billed role is able to show off her true talent. Trevor Morgan who was last seen in the third installment of the Jurassic Park franchise is a good child actor in that he doesn't really do anything to bring attention to himself. Many child actors have the tendency to annoy me with their cuteness or performances and he doesn't fall into that crowd. Stellan Skarsgard who I feel is a very talented actor is wasted here as Terry a character who is in the film simply because there needs to be some sort of villain. Stellan who appears mostly in small independent non studio films should have thought more before accepting this role as it's not likely to bring him much exposure or clout with bigger studios. The lovely Diane Lane looks like she's working on 2 hours sleep in this film and her character is even less developed then Stellan's. She's adequate in the role but since there's nothing to the role I don't see why she took the part. With the talent involved I wonder if the original screenplay for this movie had something the final product doesn't. Also worth noting is Carly Pope (TV's Popular) in a small role as one of Ruby's friends. Carly is a real genuine talent that I had the pleasure of working with and knowing in High School and so far hasn't really showed that in her work on big or small screens. Carly's presence on the screen even for a few brief moments made me forget how bad the movie I was actually watching was. I hope that Carly continues taking small roles that eventually build to bigger and better things. I don't see her being able to carry a female lead just yet but with time she just might be able to. Veteren TV director Daniel Sackheim makes his feature debut here. Sackheim's credits include the trio of Chris Carter series X-Files, Harsh Realm and Millienum as well as Law and Order, NYPD Blue and ER. For someone whose worked on such high profile series it's somewhat surprising that he didn't pick up one or more elements of their success. Working off a screenplay from Wesley Strick (The Saint 1997, Cape Fear 1991) Sackheim is unable to sustain the story and pacing for the length of the entire film. If this story had been shot as a TV mystery then it might have worked better in that 43 minute length. When thinking back to the film and looking for things I did like about the picture I came up with was the title. The title works on two levels and is one of the coolest teen movie titles in a long time. In the current movie climate many movies titles have little to do with the film itself. Titles like She's All That, Down To You and Boys and Girls are great and all but they are interchangeable. They don't really have to anything to do with the movie itself. The Glass House is an effective title because The Glasses live in the house and the house is surround by an eerily high amount of glass. Someone involved with the film should be given a hand for not coming up with a typical teen title for this movie. The Glass House is a by the numbers teen oriented thriller that does little to thrill or chill the viewers. This has to be one of the more predictable movies that I've seen in the last few years. It's an insult to the intelligence of teenagers and if it wasn't for the talented cast whose performances are still lacking then this could have been an even worse picture. This is one Glass House that's worth throwing stones at. If your the type who likes to be one step ahead (in this case many steps) then maybe the Glass House is for you. The Glass House is only really a viable option if you've seen everything else out there and it's cheap night.. If your a teen and "O" is still playing in your area then go spend your money on that it's a far richer experience. Movie Rating : 6/10 Reviewed September 21 by Mark McLeod |