"The Glass House" is another standard but fairly entertaining thriller. The story revolves around Ruby Baker (Leelee Sobieski, "Joy Ride"), whose parents die in a horrible car accident. Scarred from the incident, Ruby and her brother, Rhett (Trevor Morgan), move in with their previous long-time neighbors and friends, Terry and Erin Glass (Stellan Skarsgaard and Diane Lane), in their luxurious glass home located in the hills on the California coast. Things seem normal enough at first, although Ruby isn't used to their kind of lifestyle - the Glasses can buy them literally anything they want. Rhett has a new Playstation and plenty of games, and Ruby is given a brand new Mac laptop, just to name a few of the items they've received. But the more time she spends at the house, she begins to realize that things aren't all cop-acetic, and that Terry and Erin aren't quite as friendly as they may appear, and that they might be holding a dark secret related to Ruby.
While it is an admittedly predictable teenage thriller, "The Glass House" still manages to be consistently entertaining despite it's clichés and shortcomings. The storyline isn't anything too original - teen moves in with seemingly-friendly adoptive parents who may have ulterior motives. The same type of thing has been done before, so in that respect this film doesn't offer much of anything new. Is it clichéd? Yes, it surely is. Despite that though, it does have some nice touches to it and is never uninteresting at all. The way the story begins to unfold is predictable, and I knew what was going to happen next before it even happened, but I was still interested and entertained with it. But a large majority of films are predictable - doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable though.
There is some nice cinematography in the movie, and the glass house itself is really an amazing set piece. Reflections, lightness, and darkness are all used in conjunction with the glass walls, and create an eerie atmosphere for the movie at appropriate times. The movie does lack real scares, but it's more of a thriller than anything so I suppose that's irrelevant. Just don't go in expecting it to be a full-blown horror movie, because it's not at all. The cast is led by Leelee Sobieski, and she is good enough to carry the film. Stellan Skarsgaard and Diane Lane play the two-sided foster parents, who are both friendly and menacing, as their characters should be. There are a few other familiar faces in the cast as well, including Trevor Morgan as Rhett, and Kathy Baker as a counselor/social worker. The acting in the film is overall pretty good. The movie's conclusion, as is a lot of other things in this film, is predictable, but it's satisfying as well so I can't really complain too much about it.
The bottom line is, if you're tired of the typical "teen thrillers" out there, then you'll probably want to skip "The Glass House". But if you don't mind movies of this type (or if you enjoy them), it's a very entertaining one and is worth a look. I'll rate it just one point above average because I personally enjoyed it despite it's predictability. 6/10.
While it is an admittedly predictable teenage thriller, "The Glass House" still manages to be consistently entertaining despite it's clichés and shortcomings. The storyline isn't anything too original - teen moves in with seemingly-friendly adoptive parents who may have ulterior motives. The same type of thing has been done before, so in that respect this film doesn't offer much of anything new. Is it clichéd? Yes, it surely is. Despite that though, it does have some nice touches to it and is never uninteresting at all. The way the story begins to unfold is predictable, and I knew what was going to happen next before it even happened, but I was still interested and entertained with it. But a large majority of films are predictable - doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable though.
There is some nice cinematography in the movie, and the glass house itself is really an amazing set piece. Reflections, lightness, and darkness are all used in conjunction with the glass walls, and create an eerie atmosphere for the movie at appropriate times. The movie does lack real scares, but it's more of a thriller than anything so I suppose that's irrelevant. Just don't go in expecting it to be a full-blown horror movie, because it's not at all. The cast is led by Leelee Sobieski, and she is good enough to carry the film. Stellan Skarsgaard and Diane Lane play the two-sided foster parents, who are both friendly and menacing, as their characters should be. There are a few other familiar faces in the cast as well, including Trevor Morgan as Rhett, and Kathy Baker as a counselor/social worker. The acting in the film is overall pretty good. The movie's conclusion, as is a lot of other things in this film, is predictable, but it's satisfying as well so I can't really complain too much about it.
The bottom line is, if you're tired of the typical "teen thrillers" out there, then you'll probably want to skip "The Glass House". But if you don't mind movies of this type (or if you enjoy them), it's a very entertaining one and is worth a look. I'll rate it just one point above average because I personally enjoyed it despite it's predictability. 6/10.