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** There are *many* other examples. He presents the business card of the hacker's agent and it was clearly just printed on a piece of cardboard. Jukt Micronics' website is an all-text AOL page. Each time he retreats into other lies.
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* ShownTheirWork: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered surprisingly accurately; no VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory here. Glass's rise and subsequent meteoric fall from grace are very well-documented.
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* TruthInTelevision: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered surprisingly accurately; no VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory here. Glass's rise and subsequent meteoric fall from grace are very well-documented.
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* EnforcedMethodActing: When the Young Republicans harass and chase a woman down a hallway, the horrified look on the actress's face is made more real because the director instructed the actors to glare at her silently before filming and not respond to her attempts at conversation.
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* PlayingAgainstType: As Penenberg, the IntrepidReporter who exposes Glass... Steve Zahn?
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* ActorAllusion: Glass mentions the National Assembly of Hackers's voice mail as being just [[ShoutOut "a dark, deep, heavy breathing.'']] Hayden Christensen is best known for a [[StarWars playing a character]] who does some [[VaderBreath dark, deep, heavy breathing.]]
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* CrocodileTears: Glass's last ditch attempt to get Lane to drive him to the airport after he's been found out, implying suicidal thoughts. Lane almost buys it, but finally tells him to "stop pitching."
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* CrocodileTears: Glass's last ditch attempt to get Lane to drive him to the airport after he's been found out, implying suicidal thoughts. Lane almost buys it, but finally tells him to "stop pitching."
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* CrocodileTears: Glass's last ditch attempt to get Lane to drive him to the airport after he's been found out, implying suicidal thoughts. Lane almost buys it, but finally tells him to "stop pitching."
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* ActorAllusion: Glass mentions the National Assembly of Hackers's voice mail as being just [[ShoutOut "a dark, deep, heavy breathing.'']] Hayden Christenson is best known for a [[StarWars playing a character]] who does some [[VaderBreath dark, deep, heavy breathing.]]
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* ActorAllusion: Glass mentions the National Assembly of Hackers's voice mail as being just [[ShoutOut "a dark, deep, heavy breathing.'']] Hayden Christenson Christensen is best known for a [[StarWars playing a character]] who does some [[VaderBreath dark, deep, heavy breathing.]]
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* ActorAllusion: Glass mentions the National Assembly of Hackers's voice mail as being just [[ShoutOut "a dark, deep, heavy breathing.'']] Hayden Christenson is best known for a [[StarWars playing a character]] who does some [[VaderBreath dark, deep, heavy breathing.]]
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Just expanding the page
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2003 film about the rise and fall of Stephen Glass, a writer at ''The New Republic'' magazine who spent years making up fictitious stories for the magazine before he was finally exposed. Hayden Christensen stars as Glass, proving that despite [[Franchise/StarWars prior indications]] he can act, and Peter Saarsgard stars as Glass's last editor, Charles Lane.
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2003 film about the rise and fall of Stephen Glass, a writer at ''The New Republic'' magazine who spent years making up fictitious stories for the magazine before he was finally exposed. Hayden Christensen stars as Glass, proving that despite [[Franchise/StarWars prior indications]] he can act, act (or that he can at least be used effectively when his limitations are calculated to work in the film's favor), and Peter Saarsgard stars as Glass's last editor, Charles Lane.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author[[note]]This didn't turn out to well for him: his novel, a ''roman a clef'' of his experiences at the ''New Republic'', was largely panned and seen as being self-serving; in 2004, after being advised that he would be rejected, Glass withdrew his bar application in New York, and in 2014, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled against his bar admission, citing his lack of "demonstrating rehabilitation and fitness for the practice of law."[[/note]], Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author[[note]]This didn't turn out to well for him: his novel, a ''roman a clef'' of his experiences at the ''New Republic'', was largely panned and seen as being self-serving; self-serving. As for his legal career: in 2004, after being advised that he would be rejected, Glass withdrew his bar application in New York, and York. And in 2014, after multiple reviews and appeals, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled against his bar admission, citing his lack of "demonstrating rehabilitation and fitness for the practice of law."[[/note]], Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author[[note]]This didn't turn out to well for him: his novel, a ''roman a clef'' of his experiences at the ''New Republic'', was largely panned and seen as being self-serving, and as of 2013, he ''had'' his law license, but he's in the process of trying to keep it, as he faces disbarment from the California bar for his past at TNR[[/note]], Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author[[note]]This didn't turn out to well for him: his novel, a ''roman a clef'' of his experiences at the ''New Republic'', was largely panned and seen as being self-serving, self-serving; in 2004, after being advised that he would be rejected, Glass withdrew his bar application in New York, and as of 2013, he ''had'' his law license, but he's in the process of trying to keep it, as he faces disbarment from 2014, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled against his bar admission, citing his lack of "demonstrating rehabilitation and fitness for his past at TNR[[/note]], the practice of law."[[/note]], Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author[[note]]This didn't turn out to well for him: as of 2013, he ''had'' his law license, but he's in the process of trying to keep it, as he faces disbarment from the California bar for his past at TNR[[/note]], Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author[[note]]This didn't turn out to well for him: his novel, a ''roman a clef'' of his experiences at the ''New Republic'', was largely panned and seen as being self-serving, and as of 2013, he ''had'' his law license, but he's in the process of trying to keep it, as he faces disbarment from the California bar for his past at TNR[[/note]], Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Chuck Lane in a nutshell. The standard response of an outside attack on a publication's integrity is to deny everything and protect the author and the reputation of the publication. Chuck Lane, on the other hand, first of all feels no real loyalty to Glass, and second of all feels that the integrity of The New Republic is best served by issuing a ''mea culpa'' for any inaccuracies. When he discovers that Glass has systematically undermined the entire editorial process at ''TNR'', potentially for years, he realizes that the only way to preserve the integrity of the magazine is to absolutely destroy Stephen Glass, something he does not relish.
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* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Chuck Lane in a nutshell. The standard response of an outside attack on a publication's integrity is to deny everything and protect the author and the reputation of the publication. Chuck Lane, on the other hand, first of all feels no real loyalty to Glass, and second of all feels that the integrity of The New Republic is best served by issuing a ''mea culpa'' for any inaccuracies. When he discovers that Glass has systematically undermined the entire editorial process at ''TNR'', potentially for years, he realizes that the only way to preserve the integrity of the magazine is to absolutely destroy Stephen Glass, something he does not relish. Although when it initially looks like Glass is a decent reporter who has simply been taken advantage of by a hoax, Lane does stick up for him and ask the Forbes Digital reporters to tread lightly if possible; it's only when it becomes irreversibly clear that Glass is a fraud, and that this isn't the first time this has occurred that he decides to throw Glass to the wolves.
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* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Chuck Lane in a nutshell. The standard response of an outside attack on a publication's integrity is to deny everything and protect the author and the reputation of the publication. Chuck Lane, on the other hand, first of all feels no real loyalty to Glass, and second of all feels that the integrity of The New Republic is best served by issuing a ''mea culpa'' for any inaccuracies. When he discovers that Glass has systematically undermined the entire editorial process at ''TNR'', potentially for years, he realizes that the only way to preserve the integrity of the magazine is to absolutely destroy Stephen Glass, something he does not relish.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author, Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author, author[[note]]This didn't turn out to well for him: as of 2013, he ''had'' his law license, but he's in the process of trying to keep it, as he faces disbarment from the California bar for his past at TNR[[/note]], Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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* TruthInTelevision: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered surprisingly accurately; no BasedOnATrueStory here.
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* TruthInTelevision: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered surprisingly accurately; no BasedOnATrueStory here.VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory here. Glass's rise and subsequent meteoric fall from grace are very well-documented.
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* TruthInTelevision: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered fairly accurately.
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* TruthInTelevision: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered fairly accurately.surprisingly accurately; no BasedOnATrueStory here.
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** Furthermore, the point is clearly made that even though this was the relatively early days of businesses adopting the Internet as a tool, even by those standards it was still bad; the Forbes Digital reporters -- people who knew a little something about the Internet back then -- openly express incredulity that this could the website of a corporation specialising in computer technology.
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* StylisticSuck: Averted. The hilariously crappy Jukt Micronics page (basically an amateur AOL webpage) Stephen Glass tried to pass off as the official site of a "major software corporation" is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Glass_Jukt_Micronics_site.gif the actual page Glass created in real life.]] No Hollywood exaggeration of its ineptitude was needed.
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* StylisticSuck: Averted. The hilariously crappy Jukt Micronics page (basically an amateur AOL webpage) Stephen Glass tried to pass off as the official site of a "major software corporation" is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Glass_Jukt_Micronics_site.[[http://i.forbesimg.com/images/1998/05/11/capture.gif the actual page Glass created in real life.]] No Hollywood exaggeration of its ineptitude was needed.
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* OldMediaPlayingCatchUp: A theme of the film. The ''New Republic'' is a veritable old stalwart of print media, with a long and proud (and slightly snobby) tradition of being, among other things, "the in-flight magazine of Air Force One" and a distinguished reputation for accuracy and honesty. Forbes Digital Tool, the online magazine that exposes Glass's fraud with Hack Heaven, as a representative of the burgeoning online media environment, is the new kid on the block and is initially wary about taking on the ''New Republic''. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the ''New Republic'' and its traditions are completely ill-equipped to cope with someone like Glass, particularly since one of the ways in which the threads on "Hack Heaven" get pulled is when the Forbes journalists... do a basic search for the company name through Yahoo. In RealLife, the whole episode actually was one of the key moments that established online media as a serious competitor to traditional print media rather than just a novelty.
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* OldMediaPlayingCatchUp: A theme of the film. The ''New Republic'' is a veritable old stalwart of print media, with a long and proud (and slightly snobby) tradition of being, among other things, "the in-flight magazine of Air Force One" and a distinguished reputation for accuracy and honesty. Forbes Digital Tool, the online magazine that exposes Glass's fraud with Hack Heaven, as a representative of the burgeoning online media environment, is the new kid on the block and is initially wary about taking on the ''New Republic''. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the ''New Republic'' and its traditions are completely ill-equipped to cope with someone like Glass, particularly since one of the ways in which the threads on "Hack Heaven" get pulled is when the Forbes journalists... do a basic search for the company name through Yahoo. In RealLife, the whole episode actually was one of the key moments that established online media as a serious competitor to traditional print media rather than just a novelty.
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* {{Hypocrite}}: One scene features Glass fact-checking an article for a more inexperienced colleague, and raking him over the coals for the numerous inaccuracies and shoddy journalism it contains.
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* OldMediaPlayingCatchUp: A theme of the film. The ''New Republic'' is a veritable old stalwart of print media, with a long and proud (and slightly snobby) tradition of being, among other things, "the in-flight magazine of Air Force One" and a distinguished reputation for accuracy and honesty. Forbes Digital Tool, the online magazine that exposes Glass's fraud with Hack Heaven, as a representative of the burgeoning online media environment, is the new kid on the block and is initially wary about taking on the ''New Republic''. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the ''New Republic'' and its traditions are completely ill-equipped to cope with someone like Glass. In RealLife, the whole episode actually was one of the key moments that established online media as a serious competitor to traditional print media rather than just a novelty.
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* OldMediaPlayingCatchUp: A theme of the film. The ''New Republic'' is a veritable old stalwart of print media, with a long and proud (and slightly snobby) tradition of being, among other things, "the in-flight magazine of Air Force One" and a distinguished reputation for accuracy and honesty. Forbes Digital Tool, the online magazine that exposes Glass's fraud with Hack Heaven, as a representative of the burgeoning online media environment, is the new kid on the block and is initially wary about taking on the ''New Republic''. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the ''New Republic'' and its traditions are completely ill-equipped to cope with someone like Glass.Glass, particularly since one of the ways in which the threads on "Hack Heaven" get pulled is when the Forbes journalists... do a basic search for the company name through Yahoo. In RealLife, the whole episode actually was one of the key moments that established online media as a serious competitor to traditional print media rather than just a novelty.
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* OldMediaPlayingCatchUp: A theme of the film. The ''New Republic'' is a veritable old stalwart of print media, with a long and proud (and slightly snobby) tradition of being, among other things, "the in-flight magazine of Air Force One" and a distinguished reputation for accuracy and honesty. Forbes Digital Tool, the online magazine that exposes Glass's fraud with Hack Heaven, as a representative of the burgeoning online media environment, is the new kid on the block and is initially wary about taking on the ''New Republic''. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the ''New Republic'' and its traditions are completely ill-equipped to cope with someone like Glass. In RealLife, the whole episode actually was one of the key moments that established online media as a serious competitor to traditional print media rather than just a novelty.
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** Just to give an idea on how often he uses this, Caitlin tells him to stop playing this card only 15 minutes into the film.
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** Just to give an idea on how often he uses this, Caitlin tells him to stop playing this card only 15 minutes into the film. There's an element of {{Irony}} here, however, as Caitlin is at this point unaware of Glass's true nature and actions and is, from her point of view, trying to boost his self-esteem by getting to stop what she views as him deprecating himself.
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Update is based on a search for the list of Stephen Glass\'s pieces, how many of them were cooked, their dates of publication, and the date of Michael Kelly\'s dismissal from The New Republic (September 5, 1997 based on the NYT article).
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* ShuttingUpNow: Stephen tries to appeal to Michael in an effort to take the heat off himself, but Michael, knowing the kind of shit Stephen is in, quietly asks him if Glass ever cooked a piece for him while Mike was editor. Stephen doesn't respond.
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* ShuttingUpNow: Stephen tries to appeal to Michael in an effort to take the heat off himself, but Michael, knowing the kind of shit Stephen is in, quietly asks him if Glass ever cooked a piece for him while Mike was editor. Stephen doesn't respond.respond.
** The silence is even more poignant as at least half of Glass's pieces were cooked when Michael was editor.
** The silence is even more poignant as at least half of Glass's pieces were cooked when Michael was editor.
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* StylisticSuck: Averted. The hilariously crappy Jukt Micronics page (basically an amateur AOL webpage) Stephen Glass tried to pass off as the official site of a "major software corporation" is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Glass_Jukt_Micronics_site.gif the actual page Glass created in real life.]] No Hollywood exaggeration of its ineptitude was needed.
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* EurekaMoment: An offhand comment causes Lane to realize the truth about "George Sims," the alleged president of Jukt Micronics who called Lane from Palo Alto to complain about Glass's story. [[spoiler:Glass's brother lives in Palo Alto. Once Lane finds out, he realizes that Glass wasn't just duped by hoaxsters, he was lying about every single thing in the story and even enlisting his brother in the cover-up.]]
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* EurekaMoment: An offhand comment causes Lane to realize the truth about "George Sims," the alleged president of Jukt Micronics who called Lane from Palo Alto to complain about Glass's story. [[spoiler:Glass's Glass's brother lives in Palo Alto. Once Lane finds out, he realizes that Glass wasn't just duped by hoaxsters, he was lying about every single thing in the story and even enlisting his brother in the cover-up.]]
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* PlayingGertrude: Hayden Christensen playing 24 year-old Stephen Glass. He was 22 when the film came out and 17 when the New Republic scandal broke in 1998.
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* RealityIsUnrealistic: During the original screening, test audiences didn't believe that the New Republic journalists in the film could be in their twenties. Hence, is a placecard was added in the beginning of the film indicating that the average age was 26, Glass(the Youngest was 24 when the scandal broke out in 1998.
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* RealityIsUnrealistic: During the original screening, test audiences didn't believe that the New Republic journalists in the film could be in their twenties. Hence, is a placecard was added in the beginning of the film indicating that the average age was 26, Glass(the Youngest 26. Glass, the youngest, was 24 when the scandal broke out in 1998.
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** The motivations between the scenes couldn't be more different, though: in the first, Chuck is trying to save Stephen and, by extension, the magazine from a seemingly one-time issue. In the second, Chuck is actively trying to destroy Stephen ''because'' he wants to save the magazine.
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[[quoteright:290:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/glass-poster1_1673.jpg]]
2003 film about the rise and fall of Stephen Glass, a writer at ''The New Republic'' magazine who spent years making up fictitious stories for the magazine before he was finally exposed. Hayden Christensen stars as Glass, proving that despite [[Franchise/StarWars prior indications]] he can act, and Peter Saarsgard stars as Glass's last editor, Charles Lane.
[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Not to be confused with]] ''TransformersShatteredGlass''.
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* AmbiguouslyGay: Stephen tells a story to Caitlin and Amy about how "a dinner with this guy from the ''Post''" turned into the guy "slipping his tongue down my throat." He's pulled away from the conversation before he can finish, so we don't actually know if it's true or if he was just fabricating it/pandering to the girls (he was worried that he was putting out "gay vibes").
* BenevolentBoss: Michael Kelly, Glass's first editor. This throws off the audience's expectations when Glass clashes with his second boss, HeroAntagonist Chuck Lane.
* BluntYes
--> '''Caitlin''': Is that what you want, Amy? To have smoke blown up your ass by a bunch of editors?
--> '''Amy''': Yes, yes it is.
* BookEnds: The scene with Glass at the Monica Lewinsky memorabilia convention.
* CompositeCharacter: Glass's editors Lane and Michael Kelly were real people (as is Martin Peretz, a smaller part in the film) but his fellow journalists at ''The New Republic'' are all composites.
* ConsummateLiar: Glass's web of fraud is quite intricate and plausible, and he goes to the extent of faking business cards, websites and email addresses to cover up his frauds. Curiously, however, when he's actually challenged in person when someone [[PullTheThread pulls the thread]] on one of his stories, he actually becomes something of a BadLiar. His thread, while intricate and long, also collapses entirely when someone scratches the surface enough times.
* DaydreamSurprise: Throughout the movie, we see snippets of the various stories Glass has researched and submitted, such as the Monica Lewinsky convention, the Young Republican WackyFratboyHijinx Party and, of course, Hack Heaven. All of which, as we learn the extent of his fakery, are heavily implied to be just his imagination. [[spoiler: The high school class Glass addresses as a FramingDevice turns out to be one of these, as it's revealed that he's just daydreaming while in a meeting to determine precisely the extent of his fraud.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Penenberg, taking a bit of delight in unraveling the ''New Republic'''s story.
-->'''Penenberg''': There is one thing in this story that checks out; there does appear to be a state in the Union named Nevada.
* {{Dramatization}}
* EnforcedMethodActing: When the Young Republicans harass and chase a woman down a hallway, the horrified look on the actress's face is made more real because the director instructed the actors to glare at her silently before filming and not respond to her attempts at conversation.
* EurekaMoment: An offhand comment causes Lane to realize the truth about "George Sims," the alleged president of Jukt Micronics who called Lane from Palo Alto to complain about Glass's story. [[spoiler:Glass's brother lives in Palo Alto. Once Lane finds out, he realizes that Glass wasn't just duped by hoaxsters, he was lying about every single thing in the story and even enlisting his brother in the cover-up.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There's an early scene where Stephen's story about the Young Republicans has a hole, but he's able to cover his tracks and Michael doesn't press further once one of Glass's corrections is confirmed by the hotel where the story took place.
* FramingDevice: Glass tells his story to a journalism class [[spoiler: that turns out to be a figment of his imagination]].
* HeroAntagonist: Charles Lane.
* HeroWithBadPublicity / VillainWithGoodPublicity: Glass is well-liked, self-effacing and charming, making it easy for people get get on his side against Lane, who is more distant and formal, and viewed as more of a distrusted interloper after he got the job previously held by a popular editor. Deconstructing this is essentially the crux of Lane's angry rant to Caitlin after he's fired Glass and she confronts him about it, saying that while everyone might hate him they ''all'' allowed Glass to drag the magazine's name through the mud purely because they liked him.
* ImagineSpot: [[spoiler: Glass telling his story to a journalism class.]]
* ImplausibleDeniability: Stephen's story is destroyed for good when the building where he claimed the hacking convention was held is found to be closed on Sundays, the day Stephen's piece took place. Also, the building definitely did not look like it could hold as many people that Glass said attended the event. His response: "All I know is that I was here."
-->'''Stephen''': I don't know what you're talking about, OK? Those are all real people!
-->'''Chuck''': Look at me...and say that again.
-->'''Stephen''': *looks him in the eye* Those are all real people.
* IntrepidReporter: Adam Penenberg. Stephen Glass would very much ''like'' to be thought of as one of these, but he very much isn't.
* {{Irony}}: Many of the reporters at the ''New Republic'' express a strongly-held (and slightly snobby) opposition to the idea of including photos in the magazine, citing their integrity as a news magazine over those publications which do provide them. At the end, however, a secretary bitterly notes that what Glass did would be a lot harder if he'd had to include photographs of the people involved in his stories; not providing photos has ended up damaging the magazine's integrity far more.
* KubrickStare: Lane shoots one at Glass after finding out that the building Glass claims the conference was at was closed that day.
* LameExcuse: Played seriously; Glass starts coming out with these when his lies begin to be exposed.
* LectureAsExposition: The scenes where Glass is talking to the classroom help movie viewers understand how fact-checking works and how Glass got away with his fabrications.
* ManipulativeBastard: Very subtly; Glass tends to use his 'aw-shucks' humble act to make people feel sorry for him.
--> "Are you mad at me?"
* MatchCut: From Glass's face in the classroom to Glass's face at his last meeting with Chuck Lane.
* NeverMyFault: How Glass spins all his mistakes, claiming he was "duped" with the '"Hack Heaven" story. Even when all the holes are found in the story, Stephen tries to turn it around on Chuck for not "backing" him.
* NotSoDifferent: After the conference call with Forbes Digital that crumbles Stephen's story, Chuck calls the Forbes editor as a mild plea to go easy on Stephen, saying that he was a troubled kid whose mistake could cost him a promising career, while the unspoken implication is that a story exposing Glass could ruin ''The New Republic''. This is the same stance Stephen's co-workers and the ''New Republic'' execs take when Chuck tries to crack down harder on Stephen once he learns the lies ran deeper than what was initially believed.
* OffTheRecord
* OhCrap: Glass when he realizes he gave a fake phone number with the wrong area code. And again when he learns that the building where the hacker conference purportedly took place was closed that day.
* PlayingAgainstType: As Penenberg, the IntrepidReporter who exposes Glass... Steve Zahn?
* PlayingGertrude: Hayden Christensen playing 24 year-old Stephen Glass. He was 22 when the film came out and 17 when the New Republic scandal broke in 1998.
* PrecisionFStrike: "You work for the fuckin' ''New Republic''", says Caitlin, trying to convince him not to leave the Republic for law school. Penenberg also gets one once he combs through Glass's article for the first time: "That ''New Republic'' article is a fucking sieve."
* PullTheThread: The final hour is basically this. Glass's increasingly desperate efforts to protect himself almost make you feel sorry for him.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: During the original screening, test audiences didn't believe that the New Republic journalists in the film could be in their twenties. Hence, is a placecard was added in the beginning of the film indicating that the average age was 26, Glass(the Youngest was 24 when the scandal broke out in 1998.
* ShoutOut: Glass's pitch of "Hack Heaven" involves his subject [[Film/JerryMaguire wiggling his hips in bravado while screaming "Show me the money!"]] One could argue that the film is exactly where Glass is pulling inspiration for his fabrication from (the film came out two years before the Glass incident).
* ShuttingUpNow: Stephen tries to appeal to Michael in an effort to take the heat off himself, but Michael, knowing the kind of shit Stephen is in, quietly asks him if Glass ever cooked a piece for him while Mike was editor. Stephen doesn't respond.
* SmugSnake: Glass initially comes off as a humble, self-effacing person, but the longer he keeps it up the more we begin to see what a slimy, phony weasel he actually is. Note how subtly smug he is when his co-workers find themselves unable to compete with his exciting and quirky (and entirely fabricated) story pitches when presenting their comparatively duller (but real) ones.
* TruthInTelevision: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered fairly accurately.
* UnreliableNarrator: Glass's opening narration isn't exactly accurate.
* VillainProtagonist: Glass, obviously.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author, Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Lane to Caitlin Avey towards the end when she is still sticking up for Glass.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: A variant; when his increasingly tenuous web of lies begins to unravel, Glass' response is basically to start whining and playing the victim.
--> '''Glass''': I didn't do anything wrong, Chuck!\\
'''Lane''': I really wish you'd ''stop saying that''!
** Just to give an idea on how often he uses this, Caitlin tells him to stop playing this card only 15 minutes into the film.
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2003 film about the rise and fall of Stephen Glass, a writer at ''The New Republic'' magazine who spent years making up fictitious stories for the magazine before he was finally exposed. Hayden Christensen stars as Glass, proving that despite [[Franchise/StarWars prior indications]] he can act, and Peter Saarsgard stars as Glass's last editor, Charles Lane.
[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Not to be confused with]] ''TransformersShatteredGlass''.
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!!This film provides examples of:
* AmbiguouslyGay: Stephen tells a story to Caitlin and Amy about how "a dinner with this guy from the ''Post''" turned into the guy "slipping his tongue down my throat." He's pulled away from the conversation before he can finish, so we don't actually know if it's true or if he was just fabricating it/pandering to the girls (he was worried that he was putting out "gay vibes").
* BenevolentBoss: Michael Kelly, Glass's first editor. This throws off the audience's expectations when Glass clashes with his second boss, HeroAntagonist Chuck Lane.
* BluntYes
--> '''Caitlin''': Is that what you want, Amy? To have smoke blown up your ass by a bunch of editors?
--> '''Amy''': Yes, yes it is.
* BookEnds: The scene with Glass at the Monica Lewinsky memorabilia convention.
* CompositeCharacter: Glass's editors Lane and Michael Kelly were real people (as is Martin Peretz, a smaller part in the film) but his fellow journalists at ''The New Republic'' are all composites.
* ConsummateLiar: Glass's web of fraud is quite intricate and plausible, and he goes to the extent of faking business cards, websites and email addresses to cover up his frauds. Curiously, however, when he's actually challenged in person when someone [[PullTheThread pulls the thread]] on one of his stories, he actually becomes something of a BadLiar. His thread, while intricate and long, also collapses entirely when someone scratches the surface enough times.
* DaydreamSurprise: Throughout the movie, we see snippets of the various stories Glass has researched and submitted, such as the Monica Lewinsky convention, the Young Republican WackyFratboyHijinx Party and, of course, Hack Heaven. All of which, as we learn the extent of his fakery, are heavily implied to be just his imagination. [[spoiler: The high school class Glass addresses as a FramingDevice turns out to be one of these, as it's revealed that he's just daydreaming while in a meeting to determine precisely the extent of his fraud.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Penenberg, taking a bit of delight in unraveling the ''New Republic'''s story.
-->'''Penenberg''': There is one thing in this story that checks out; there does appear to be a state in the Union named Nevada.
* {{Dramatization}}
* EnforcedMethodActing: When the Young Republicans harass and chase a woman down a hallway, the horrified look on the actress's face is made more real because the director instructed the actors to glare at her silently before filming and not respond to her attempts at conversation.
* EurekaMoment: An offhand comment causes Lane to realize the truth about "George Sims," the alleged president of Jukt Micronics who called Lane from Palo Alto to complain about Glass's story. [[spoiler:Glass's brother lives in Palo Alto. Once Lane finds out, he realizes that Glass wasn't just duped by hoaxsters, he was lying about every single thing in the story and even enlisting his brother in the cover-up.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There's an early scene where Stephen's story about the Young Republicans has a hole, but he's able to cover his tracks and Michael doesn't press further once one of Glass's corrections is confirmed by the hotel where the story took place.
* FramingDevice: Glass tells his story to a journalism class [[spoiler: that turns out to be a figment of his imagination]].
* HeroAntagonist: Charles Lane.
* HeroWithBadPublicity / VillainWithGoodPublicity: Glass is well-liked, self-effacing and charming, making it easy for people get get on his side against Lane, who is more distant and formal, and viewed as more of a distrusted interloper after he got the job previously held by a popular editor. Deconstructing this is essentially the crux of Lane's angry rant to Caitlin after he's fired Glass and she confronts him about it, saying that while everyone might hate him they ''all'' allowed Glass to drag the magazine's name through the mud purely because they liked him.
* ImagineSpot: [[spoiler: Glass telling his story to a journalism class.]]
* ImplausibleDeniability: Stephen's story is destroyed for good when the building where he claimed the hacking convention was held is found to be closed on Sundays, the day Stephen's piece took place. Also, the building definitely did not look like it could hold as many people that Glass said attended the event. His response: "All I know is that I was here."
-->'''Stephen''': I don't know what you're talking about, OK? Those are all real people!
-->'''Chuck''': Look at me...and say that again.
-->'''Stephen''': *looks him in the eye* Those are all real people.
* IntrepidReporter: Adam Penenberg. Stephen Glass would very much ''like'' to be thought of as one of these, but he very much isn't.
* {{Irony}}: Many of the reporters at the ''New Republic'' express a strongly-held (and slightly snobby) opposition to the idea of including photos in the magazine, citing their integrity as a news magazine over those publications which do provide them. At the end, however, a secretary bitterly notes that what Glass did would be a lot harder if he'd had to include photographs of the people involved in his stories; not providing photos has ended up damaging the magazine's integrity far more.
* KubrickStare: Lane shoots one at Glass after finding out that the building Glass claims the conference was at was closed that day.
* LameExcuse: Played seriously; Glass starts coming out with these when his lies begin to be exposed.
* LectureAsExposition: The scenes where Glass is talking to the classroom help movie viewers understand how fact-checking works and how Glass got away with his fabrications.
* ManipulativeBastard: Very subtly; Glass tends to use his 'aw-shucks' humble act to make people feel sorry for him.
--> "Are you mad at me?"
* MatchCut: From Glass's face in the classroom to Glass's face at his last meeting with Chuck Lane.
* NeverMyFault: How Glass spins all his mistakes, claiming he was "duped" with the '"Hack Heaven" story. Even when all the holes are found in the story, Stephen tries to turn it around on Chuck for not "backing" him.
* NotSoDifferent: After the conference call with Forbes Digital that crumbles Stephen's story, Chuck calls the Forbes editor as a mild plea to go easy on Stephen, saying that he was a troubled kid whose mistake could cost him a promising career, while the unspoken implication is that a story exposing Glass could ruin ''The New Republic''. This is the same stance Stephen's co-workers and the ''New Republic'' execs take when Chuck tries to crack down harder on Stephen once he learns the lies ran deeper than what was initially believed.
* OffTheRecord
* OhCrap: Glass when he realizes he gave a fake phone number with the wrong area code. And again when he learns that the building where the hacker conference purportedly took place was closed that day.
* PlayingAgainstType: As Penenberg, the IntrepidReporter who exposes Glass... Steve Zahn?
* PlayingGertrude: Hayden Christensen playing 24 year-old Stephen Glass. He was 22 when the film came out and 17 when the New Republic scandal broke in 1998.
* PrecisionFStrike: "You work for the fuckin' ''New Republic''", says Caitlin, trying to convince him not to leave the Republic for law school. Penenberg also gets one once he combs through Glass's article for the first time: "That ''New Republic'' article is a fucking sieve."
* PullTheThread: The final hour is basically this. Glass's increasingly desperate efforts to protect himself almost make you feel sorry for him.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: During the original screening, test audiences didn't believe that the New Republic journalists in the film could be in their twenties. Hence, is a placecard was added in the beginning of the film indicating that the average age was 26, Glass(the Youngest was 24 when the scandal broke out in 1998.
* ShoutOut: Glass's pitch of "Hack Heaven" involves his subject [[Film/JerryMaguire wiggling his hips in bravado while screaming "Show me the money!"]] One could argue that the film is exactly where Glass is pulling inspiration for his fabrication from (the film came out two years before the Glass incident).
* ShuttingUpNow: Stephen tries to appeal to Michael in an effort to take the heat off himself, but Michael, knowing the kind of shit Stephen is in, quietly asks him if Glass ever cooked a piece for him while Mike was editor. Stephen doesn't respond.
* SmugSnake: Glass initially comes off as a humble, self-effacing person, but the longer he keeps it up the more we begin to see what a slimy, phony weasel he actually is. Note how subtly smug he is when his co-workers find themselves unable to compete with his exciting and quirky (and entirely fabricated) story pitches when presenting their comparatively duller (but real) ones.
* TruthInTelevision: His ''TNR'' coworkers might be composites but Glass's career and his fall are both rendered fairly accurately.
* UnreliableNarrator: Glass's opening narration isn't exactly accurate.
* VillainProtagonist: Glass, obviously.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Glass went to law school and began a career as an author, Chuck Lane became a writer for the ''Washington Post'', and Michael Kelly died in 2003 covering Operation Iraqi Freedom.
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Lane to Caitlin Avey towards the end when she is still sticking up for Glass.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: A variant; when his increasingly tenuous web of lies begins to unravel, Glass' response is basically to start whining and playing the victim.
--> '''Glass''': I didn't do anything wrong, Chuck!\\
'''Lane''': I really wish you'd ''stop saying that''!
** Just to give an idea on how often he uses this, Caitlin tells him to stop playing this card only 15 minutes into the film.
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