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The Glass House (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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182 reviews in total

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24 out of 33 people found the following review useful:
I had low expectations... but luckily, they were not fulfilled!, 5 January 2003
Author: Madison Graves (madisongraves@yahoo.com) from Austin, TX

I had not heard much about "The Glass House", besides unfavorable reviews by critics, who claimed it was a ridiculous display of unintentional humor. However, when I came across it casually on HBO, I was immensely surprised and impressed!

The story was gripping and I loved the character development - which is so rare in thrillers today. I thought the cast was brilliant, especially Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard. Stellan's character was completely chilling, and he played it so effectively. And Diane's character was also wonderfully displayed - despite her terrible actions at times, you can't help but empathize with her a bit, due to Diane's emotional investment in the role. And Trevor Morgan (who I also recently saw in "A Rumor of Angels") is sure to do very well on the big screen for years to come... he's very good for such a young kid. And Leelee Sobieski... she was weak at times, but I felt that she was perfect for the part. She has kind of an authentic look to her and she was casted very well for the part. She had on-screen appeal without being too obnoxiously cutsie. She did a fair job, certainly enough to fulfil the director's vision of the movie - I'm sure of that.

As far as the story goes, it's got everything you could want in a thriller. There were some holes, but some of my favorite movies of all-time have holes and I think it's really too much to ask for a perfect film. But it's downfall was that at times it was a bit predictable - but for me, that only enhanced the movie's suspense.

I greatly enjoyed this movie and I think you will too. I'll agree with the critics that there are some technical flaws in some of the story's details - but over all, the story was very compelling and told VERY well, great development of it's characters and all the events were portrayed very believably, the director definitely kept the audience's trust and attention. So, I recommend it - despite the critic's bashing of the film. Personally, as a teenager, I thought the portrayal of LeeLee's high school was very realistic and so that definitely caught my attention in a good way. Little things like that, that are usually not apparent in most movies today, certainly made up for other little flaws. So, go catch it on HBO or rent it! It's good!

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14 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Not the best, but an OK thriller, 20 May 2004

Author: Grann-Bach (Grann-Bach@jubii.dk) from Denmark

Having seen many thrillers, most of them being formulaic, I was somewhat excited to see this one, since it has a pretty good cast; Stellan Skarsgård, Leelee Sobieski & Diane Lane. The plot does, admittedly have some holes, but these newer thrillers are rarely(read: never) perfect. All things considered, it wasn't a disappointment, as I didn't have that high expectations. The plot is OK, fairly see-through and obvious though, but it does have some twists that I(even though I may be alone on this) wasn't expecting. The acting isn't anything special, but at least Skarsgård and Sobieski both pull of decent performances. The characters are reasonably well-written, none of them come off as one-dimensional stereotypes, even though some of them, in all honesty, more or less are. The script is fairly well-written, though it does have its share of cliches, but most films do, anyway. All in all, a fair addition to the thriller genre, nothing that will stay in your mind for a long while after seeing it. It will, however, most likely keep your interest for the duration of the film, and keep you entertained, too. I recommend it to fans of thrillers, it would help to be a fan of at least one of the actors, and it doesn't hurt to have reasonably low standards or expectations. 6/10

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12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Come out, come out, wherever you are. (spoilers), 10 March 2005

Author: Pepper Anne from Orlando, Florida

You might initially be reluctant to give 'The Glass House' a try if you've been turned off by many recent "thrillers" as they often have been disappointingly by the book. This is your eerie psychotic chase thriller similar to movies like 'Pacific Heights' and 'Unlawful Entry.' And, though it does play by the rules (unforutnately), there is something about it that makes it more entertaining than the recent dismal fare (not that Pacific Heights wasn't highly entertaining).

Leelee Sobieski plays Ruby Baker, a kid going through the terrible teens. When she and her brother's parents die in a car accident, they move in with ultra-modern family friends, Terry and Erin Glass. You know right from the start that there is something dreadfully suspicious and exceedingly bizarre about the Glass couple, but you can never be too sure exactly what at first (that's the purpose of a thriller, to throw you a few hints and let your quick assumptions guide you into all the wrong paths so that you're--hopefully--pleasantly surprised when the real perpetrator and his motives are revealed). But, Ruby Baker is a smart kid who's ever-present skepticism about the intentions of her new surrogate parents, and starts trying to figure out what's wrong. Unfortunately, this movie does terribly follow the book when it comes to the main character being disbelieved by other well-meaning characters (social workers, lawyers, teachers, etc.) who consequently pay with their lives for their doubts and unwillingness to really investigate, and in turn, making things worse for poor Ruby. It also follows the book when it comes to the deranged finale and the he's-not-really dead ending.

But, there is something that makes this better than most of its kind. On the one hand, you're never sure whether you can always trust Ruby because even she, too, arrogant most of the time, seems like trouble. It's hard to sympathize for a character like that at first. And, not only does Stellan Skarsgård make an appropriate villain as Terry Glass, his wife (played by Diane Lane) is not entirely an innocent creature herself as most women are often written to be in the role of the creep's wife/girlfriend/mother, etc. A good mix of characters and a creepy setting, combined with a decent finale, make it just the perfect mix of suspenseful elements. And one that I would recommend seeing.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Moderately Effective Thriller, 7 October 2001

Author: Spanner-2 from United States

A moderately effective thriller featuring a capable performance by Leelee Sobieski as a teenage girl who, along with her younger brother, is taken in by a couple of old family friends after the mysterious deaths of her parents. The story is fairly predictable as thrillers go, but Sobieski delivers a performance that has enough spark to keep the audience interested and the production design and the look of the `glass house' that they live in are impressive. GRADE: B

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9 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
I hated this movie, 3 February 2004

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

Ah, The Glass House, this is the movie I've tried to forget, I got dragged to the movie theater with my friends to see this, I just knew that I wasn't going to get into it. I feel bad because I always say to people even if you have a gut feeling that a movie is going to be bad, just try to have an open mind and enjoy the film. My main problem though? I can't stand Leelee Sobieski, seriously, ever since I saw Heaven on Earth, her face just, I can't describe it, she annoys the heck out of me. But I did decide rather than just complain through the whole movie, I would just try to sit and see maybe if the film could have been worth the watch at least, well, I was wrong.

After losing their parents, Grace and Dave, in a car accident, Ruby and Rhett Baker are placed under the guardianship of Erin and Terry Glass, former neighbors/parents' best friends and childless couple who live in a large glass house in Malibu. Life is great for both siblings at first. However, Ruby soon discovers that her new foster parents are after the siblings' $4 million trust fund. Ruby discovers that the car her parents died in was a BMW loaned from the Glass' company and suspects that Mr. Glass was responsible for their deaths. Mrs. Glass watches an old home video of her and Ruby on a beach, happy and healthy. Then, overwhelmed with guilt, she overdoses and dies. Ruby wakes up the next morning with Mrs. Glass' dead body lying next to her. Shocked to find his wife dead, Mr. Glass traps Ruby and Rhett in the basement. Eventually, the two escape. After a brutal car accident due to Mr. Glass tampering with his own car in the same fashion as he did with the kids' parents.

Honestly, this movie is just a waste of time, it's a very mediocre thriller that is, well for me at least, is just very predictable. The acting is lame as well as the story; but I will compliment the set, if you want me to give this movie a positive comment, there ya go. It's just a weak script, bad cast, and I can't wait to get this bad taste out of my mouth from this stupid movie, just writing this comment is making my health deteriorate. I have to stop, I'm sorry, just stay away from this movie, plant a tree, watch paint dry, that's much more useful then watching this movie.

1/10

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9 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Involving story, smart performances, and effective atmosphere overcome a hole-laden script. *** (out of four), 9 October 2001

Author: Blake French (baffilmcritic@cs.com) from USA

THE GLASS HOUSE / (2001) *** (out of four)

By Blake French:

"The Glass House" takes place in a beautiful, luxurious glass mansion complete with swimming pools, expensive artwork, high-tech security systems, and just about everything else. The wealthy occupants, Terry and Erin Glass (Stellan Skarsgard and Diane Lane), become legal guardians of sixteen-year old Rudy (Leelee Sobieski) and eleven-year old Rhett (Trevor Morgan), when the kids' parents die in an automobile accident.

Terry and Erin were the best friends of the children's parents. They welcome their new guests into a world of wealth, glamour, and fun. Soon enough, however, Rudy notices strange quirks about these seemingly friendly folks. Is Terry secretly watching Rudy change her clothes? Is Erin addicted to prescription drugs, or is she a diabetic? Was her parents' death an accident, or a diabolical act of murder? Trust becomes as transparent as the glass surrounding this family.

"The Glass House" opened to mostly negative reviews, and not without probable cause. The setup provides an intriguing, imaginative situation, but everything happens so quickly the film forgets character introduction. First time-feature director Daniel Sackheim helms a hole-laden script by Wesley Strick that creates more plot holes than Swiss cheese. The film derives into involving material, but lacks the focus to play out these plot points.

While Daniel Sackheim and Wesley Strick create a movie that lacks the timeliness and intelligence of a first-rate, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride, "The Glass House" does offer good suspense and a plot that reveals itself with tantalizing sinister hints and increasing tension. It keeps us guessing, even if this diabolical fairy tale is anything but surprising.

Leelee Sobieski has been in a lot of movies lately, and that's not a coincidence. She is a very talented actress, and she carries "The Glass House" through many plot miscalculations. Trevor Morgan, seen in "Jurassic Park 3," adequately supports Sobieski's thorough, convincing performance. The very gifted Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard cover their sinister motives with pretentious personalities, but inject a mysterious, menacing undercurrent.

"The Glass House" also provides a fresh, unique outlook on villains. Instead of causing trouble, these characters get themselves into trouble, which eventually makes them dangerous. Innovative, original twists like these are what make this movie worth a look. They say those who live in glass houses should not throw stones, but the villains in "The Glass House" do, and it's only a matter of time before everything shatters and breaks apart. It's quite involving watching these events come about, especially through a character driven story.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Not a bad Hollywood thriller, kicks Domestic Disturbance's ass, 29 December 2002

Author: Shep from United States

It's a typical Hollywood thriller with kids. But it's also one of the most fun. Domestic Disturbance from last year may have had John Travolta as daddy dearest, but this is better, even without a dad who is the only person who believes the kid. In fact, no one believes the kid in this one, except for the old guy, but only in the end. The only thing better about Domestic Disturbance is Steve Buschemi. Leelee is great in this movie, and the tragic parents death and surprisingly violent ending (like, everybody dies!)make this formula following thriller fun and not too bad. B-, 7/10

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
I wish the Film Projector would have been smashed into bits of Glass, 14 September 2001

Author: J. Conrad (kombiman@netzero.net) from Edmonton, Canada

Awful, slow, boring, lacking plot, a painful experience and an utter waste of time. See it at the cheap theatre, anymore then a few bucks for this is hi-way robbery. Over an hour before anything happened that was remotely exciting. I can't express how repulsed I am by this movie. I liken it to Chinese water torture; I just wished it would end. I fear when the next poorly delivered line would come. Ruby is hot in her bikini. The only bright note.

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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A really cool thriller, 16 April 2008

Author: Moviefreak4653 from United States

The Glass House is so wonderful and all the bad reviews are just totally bogus because the movie was good.It was fresh, and highly original which is what a good thriller needs and the Glass House was able to take all the elements a good thriller needs and put it into it.I love how it does not just immediately jump into conclusion or the big climax, but sets up a good story and reasons that the characters might suspect something bad going on.To anyone who has not seen this avoid all the bad things you have heard and sit down and watch this movie you might enjoy it, and you hopefully will so don't let other peoples reviews and a bad box office performance already ruin this movie for you. 9.3 stars out of 10

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Teen-aged Orphan Girl in Jeopardy., 16 December 2009

Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

An egregious piece of commercial trash, uninspired and soulless.

Leelee Sobieski is a 16-year-old whose wealthy parents were just killed in a traffic "accident." She and her younger brother are handed over to the only guardians available -- Stellan Skarsgard and his wife Diane Lane. But mischief is afoot. The guardians owe an enormous amount of money to the mob and intend to cheat Sobieksi and her brother out of the four million bucks in the trust fund. They'll kill the kids if necessary. After all, it turns out, they engineered the parents' car so as to disable it, disposing of the parents and leaving the two kids as helpless orphans. Something like that.

Leelee Sobieski, I kind of like. Her acting talents may be modest but at least they exist. And her features are memorable -- those plump cheeks, that tiny mouth whose upper lip is chevron shaped, and those startling blue Tartar eyes. And Stellan Skarsgard is always dependable, and sometimes more than that. The other performers fade into the woodwork.

It's the plot that sinks this attempt at a chiller. There isn't a single instant that doesn't make a viewer feel that, somewhere, some time, he's seen this before. (And he has.) It incorporates every cliché in the formula.

I'll give just one example. Skarsgard is making a private, incriminating phone call late at night in his Malibu mansion. Sobieski is downstairs in the kitchen. She picks up the second phone and pushes "Listen." She accidentally makes a slight noise. Skarsgard hears it and begins to creep suspiciously toward the kitchen, but Sobieski doesn't know he's heard. Closer and closer. Cross-cutting between the scowling Skarsgard with the phone to his ear and the unsuspecting wide-eyed Sobieski behind the kitchen door. Skarsgard reaches the door. Sobieski yanks her head around. Skarsgard flings the door open. No Sobieski. She's darted away just in time.

This sort of thing goes on and on. In the climactic auto chase, Skarsgard rams through a wall and his Jaguar rolls down a cliff and smashes to pieces.

I glanced gratefully heavenward -- at least they'd managed to avoid the ritual of the corpse leaping back to life. But, no. While Sobieski and her brother sit alone in their silent car on the highway, the shockingly bloodied Skarsgard staggers through the hole in the wall with the intent of killing the two children. You know what I want to be when I grow up? One of the heavies in a horror movie. They never die. They take a beating but keep on ticking.

If you've never seen a movie before -- if you've never HEARD of movies -- you'll probably find this one engaging.

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