The Glass House (2001) Movie Review
Written By: JASR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Daniel Sackheim
Producer: Neal H. Moritz
Writers: Wesley Strick
Date Released: September 14, 2001 (USA)
Cast:
Leelee Sobieski as Ruby Baker
Trevor Morgan as Rhett Baker
Stellan Skarsgård as Terrence “Terry” Glass
Diane Lane as Erin Glass
Bruce Dern as Alvin Begleiter
Kathy Baker as Nancy Ryan
Chris Noth as Jack Avery
Michael O’Keefe as Dave Baker
Rita Wilson as Grace Avery-Baker (uncredited)
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Siblings Ruby (Leelee Sobieski) and Rhett (Trevor Morgan) lose their parents in a car accident. In accordance with their parents’ will, they are placed under Terry Glass (Stellan Skarsgård) and Erin Glass’s (Diane Lane) guardianship. Early signs show that the Glasses may be up to something, and Ruby does what she can to find out. She later realizes that the Glasses may have had something to do with her parents’ death, and she must find a way to save herself and her brother from the Glasses’ ruthless plans.
Gore Factor
The Glass House (2001) shows glimpses of how Ruby and Rhett’s parents died – including visuals of how they lost control of the car. The movie also shows some images of blood which consequently fall under the gore category. However, such sights are quite tolerable – even for sensitive viewers. The latter part of the movie also has some intense car scenes, but the outcome of the scenes turns out to be in the audience’s favor – so I would say that audiences would find it more enjoyable than gruesome. The movie also has a few violent scenes, but those scenes are manageable – something that audiences have definitely seen before.
The Grave Review
For a movie that came out almost two decades ago, The Glass House (2001) has some pretty amazing effects. I also commend Leelee Sobieski’s and Stellan Skarsgård’s incredible acting. The way they portrayed Ruby and Terry, respectively, allows the audience to truly root for Ruby.
The movie starts to become predictable by the middle part. It is easy to figure out the Glasses’ motive through different hints that the audience can straightforwardly put together. The movie is not boring at all, but if you’re in a hurry, you can already leave the movie by the middle part and still know what will happen. If I were to guess, most audience predictions about the movie’s ending were probably correct – especially with that cliché finish.
Nonetheless, The Glass House (2001) is still worth watching because of its nail-biting scenes and the actors’ notable performance. Daniel Sackheim did a good job with the direction – especially with Skarsgård’s portrayal of a creepy guardian with an evil intention. Sobieski, who was around 18 years old at the time, definitely proved that even young actors can play the role of strong and resilient characters.
One detail that I particularly like is how Uncle Jack (Chris Noth), Ruby and Rhett’s maternal uncle, is introduced. From the start, Ruby already makes it clear that Uncle Jack hasn’t been in touch with Ruby’s mother for years. This avoids audience confusion on why Ruby and Rhett’s parents chose the Glass couple than Uncle Jack. If that detail wasn’t pointed out, audiences would surely question why the parents chose old neighbors over a blood relative – making the whole plot questionable to begin with.
Suitably, that element was well justified. More than this, Uncle Jack exhibits an essential role by the end of the movie – making his initial appearance more relevant and necessary. He is not a relative who just randomly shows up in the end because we already meet him in the beginning.
It is details like this that show us how a movie was made with incredible writing and direction. One can easily pardon the movie’s predictability because the acting, direction, and details are spot-on.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives The Glass House three graves out of five graves.
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