The Glass House (2001)

Domestic tensions turn intimately sinister in this pulpy potboiler, which develops a steely sense of menace. The trouble begins when Mr. and Mrs. Glass (Stellan Skarsgård, Diane Lane) are appointed legal guardianship of 16-year-old Ruby (Leelee Sobieski) and her 11-year-old brother (Trevor Morgan) after their parents are killed in a car accident. As trusted former neighbors, the Glasses welcome the orphans into their luxurious Malibu home, but the all-glass structure turns into a gilded cage when Mr. Glass's motivations are revealed to be anything but friendly. With plot-thickening roles for Bruce Dern and Kathy Baker, the film builds considerable suspense before tailspinning into absurdity, and veteran TV director Daniel Sackheim takes full advantage of his prismatic setting and Sobieski's burgeoning sex appeal. The rickety script by Wesley Strick (echoing his rehash of Cape Fear) eventually veers toward self-parody, at which point The Glass House qualifies as a high-gloss slasher pic. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

More than Half Empty

"Run of the mill" was a term I kept thinking while watching THE GLASS HOUSE. By the time it reaches its CAPE FEAR finale (where the villain appears to survive everything to remain a threat), I'd lost interest in the story--mainly because the characters weren't very interesting to begin with.

Leelee Sobieski is a hot teen girl. She looks great in a bikini, looks great standing around, just looks great. But there's really nothing to her character to distinguish her from any other teenage girl. She's sympathetic because she's...hot. (She's certainly not very good at eavesdropping since she gets caught every single time).

You know what might have made this movie more interesting? Leelee actually begins to have feelings for her new guardian, Stellan Skarsgard. He charms her, pulls her in, draws her out of her depression over the death of her parents (imagine the betrayal that sets up!). But his character is so slimy and creepy that I'm surprised he wasn't wearing a hockey mask or even a black stovepipe hat with a black moustache from his first scene. Everything is so undeveloped and by-the-numbers that nothing is a surprise.

Diane Lane and Bruce Dern are around but the movie wastes their considerable talents.

When it's over, you're left with...okay...that's it, huh? June 16, 2008

The Glass House

I did not get the product that was in the ad but the movie is great! June 12, 2008

Leelee (primarily) and Skarsgaard make this worth watching at the very least

I must confess, I can't think of too much to say on the topic of The Glass House. It's certainly not a horrible movie; it's a decent film though. The story line was actually fairly decent regardless of how implausible, but I don't usually go to the movies to see reality, I exist in reality and I know what it's like. If I want reality I watch documentaries. Anyway, I have tried to curb my overwhelming bias for Leelee Sobieski in my rating. She's one of the three actresses I simply adore looking at and watching in general. So it really didn't matter if the rest the cast wasn't very good, I probably would've enjoyed watching it anyway... yes, I did try to curb this bias in my rating and look at the movie as a whole.

The basic premise of the film is based around two kids, Ruby Baker (Leelee) and her brother, which inherited a lot of money from their dead parents. Their guardian, Terry Glass (Skarsgaard), (unbeknownst to others) borrowed a lot of money from loan sharks, so now he wants the kids' money to pay it off. He tries to weasel his way through the movie to get the cash any way he can. The movie is classified as a suspense/thriller, so I'm assuming people can guess where that all goes towards the end. It's actually a lot better than the quick overview sounds and a lot of this has to do with the interaction between Sobieski and Skarsgaard, who, in my opinion, gave the best performances in the film. Luckily most of film is centered on them, and thus, the general lack of the other characters is made up for.

Her brother was incredibly annoying throughout the film, but he was supposed to play the role of the annoying little brother, so I suppose he succeeded. For some reason I just plain wasn't into his acting, it felt kind of forced a lot of the times (then again, he is young and not a major character). Terry's wife, played by Diane Lane, simply listlessly goes through this film, which, again, I think her character was supposed to do. She wasn't a major presence in the film so her presence didn't get annoying, but at least her acting performance was more convincing. I will say that I did enjoy the end of the movie. It was only semi-expected on my behalf. I kind of figured out what would happen by the end, but the way they executed it was actually pretty interesting, so it definitely didn't disappoint on that level.

I don't think anyone would consider this one of the best movies ever, but I think most people will find some general merit in it. It's a pretty decent story that keeps you interested throughout the whole movie with a good amount of intrigue to keep you guessing at some things during the film. And if none of that really gets you there's a solid five minute scene of Leelee swimming in a pool in a pretty small bikini. That alone has to be worth at least one or two stars in my book. Coupled with the fact that there is a scene with her in just her bra right before this! A good time in itself, I say. Sorry... the bias came through there, I couldn't help it. Anyway, not a top priority movie, but definitely worth watching if it's on, or picking it up used for under five bucks. It does have some re-watch value, but not a ton, I think the few times I've watched this it has been years apart... definitely worth seeing once at the very least though. June 3, 2008

Let's jump off the Sierras

A simple thriller like so many others. A car accident, two orphans sheltered by the parents' business associates who are revealed to have been the killers to put their hands on the money the children represent, and all that for some shady business with criminal contractors. Banal. The elder child, the girl, will try to escape and will fail. And little by little things are going down but all is well that ends well and I can't reveal the details, except that the uncle will get the kids he should have gotten from the very start since he was the only family. The thrill comes from the details of the yarn we are told which is in a way a tall tale from some Calaveras County, California and its giant leaping jumping frogs.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
January 21, 2008

could not watch!

I have been unable to watch this movie because of some zone issue. I am not happy. I have seen this movie before and found it to be very good wanted my friends to see it also but they weren't so lucky. November 16, 2007

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