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THE GLASS HOUSE

The titular GLASS HOUSE looming over Malibu
© 2001 Columbia Pictures

THE GLASS HOUSE has a promising premise: It's sort of a Victorian-heiress-with-an-evil-guardian type of thriller, updated for the 21st century. It's also blessed with the presence of Leelee Sobieski, a completely natural and beguiling young actress, in the leading role. It's problem, however, lies with its "real life" dealings of kids, trust funds and the Internet.

The movie begins a la your standard slasher film: audiences are introduced to 16-year-old Ruby Baker (Sobieski), a typical Los Angeles teenager who happily sneaks out past curfew to see horror movies and attend rave parties with her pals. Quickly into the movie, however, she and her 11-year-old brother Rhett (Trevor Morgan) are devastated by the death of their parents (Rita Wilson, Michael O'Keefe) in a car accident. Shortly after, Ruby is informed by lawyer Alvin Begleiter (Bruce Dern) that she and her brother are the beneficiaries of a $4 million trust fund, more or less set for life.

Meanwhile, the siblings are sent to live with their former next-door neighbors, Erin (Diane Lane) and Terry Glass (Stellan Skarsgard), who have moved to a beautiful home in Malibu. The welcome is erratic: The Glasses have bought lots of video games for Rhett and new clothes for Ruby, but want brother and sister to share a single bedroom. Terry's attentions vacillate between kindly and creepy, while it's clear that Erin is monitoring Ruby's every word far too closely...

Leelee Sobieski stars in the psychological thriller THE GLASS HOUSE

© 2001 Columbia Pictures

The fact that audiences never get much of an explanation as to why the Glasses with their museum-sized home insist on Ruby and Rhett sharing a bedroom turns out to be the least of the film's problems. The script, credited to Wesley Strick, has some very clever dialogue, but hits persistent wrong notes (for example, when Erin's AOL account is closed, her friends decide she's ignoring their emails, rather than noting that their missives are bouncing), leaving the audience to wonder why Ruby doesn't take certain obvious steps that would rectify her situation.

Worst of all, however, is that the fact that the villain's goals are completely unworkable most viewers will become aware of this as soon as the plan becomes clear which leaves audiences wondering whether they're supposed to fear clever malevolence (now discredited) or sheer psychosis (not established soon enough). Although HAMLET is brought up as a recurring theme, the film (not unlike the Shakespearean hero) can't make up its mind as to its identity. Is it a jeopardy thriller, a revenge film noir or straight horror? The elements are all there, but they remain contradictory, rather than complementing one another.

Director Daniel Sackheim in his first theatrical outing gets some beautiful shots, including a "magic hour" tableaux that's truly magical, and he stages decent jump scares (a definite asset with this material). Still, he can't bring a sense of cohesion to the concluding portions and the payoffs don't feel as if they've received the proper build-ups.

THE GLASS HOUSE isn't without its modest charms and it may even do the trick if distraction from the real world is desperately needed. If it had been an ABC-TV movie in the early '70s, it might even be considered a good representative of its type. As a 2001 theatrical feature, however, it leaves much to be desired.

A note for Trekkers: John Billingsley, Dr. Phlox in the new STAR TREK series ENTERPRISE, turns up in one scene as Ruby's driving instructor.