The Glass House 2001

     Ruby Baker’s parents are killed in a car accident.  Ruby and her broth Rhett travel to Malibu to live with Terrence and Erin Glass.  The Glass’s are their former neighbors.  All seems to be going well at first.  Ruby is making new friends at school.  Rhett is getting more video games and flashy toys than he’s ever had in his life!!  Ruby speaks to her family’s estate lawyer and he tells her that their parents have left them 4 million dollars!!  Ruby begins to notice odd behavior from Terry one Erin?  Does it have anything to do with this large amount of money?

     The trailer is a comprehensive betrayal of the movie’s key secrets??  The first five or ten minutes have nothing to do with the rest of the story.  It is there to fool us with misleading footage.  There are the elements for a good film in this story but it doesn’t think that the audience can keep up with the film??  Consequently, it needs dumbing down or they won’t get it??  This film would probably appeal to teens but it is not for younger viewers.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

106 min, Crime directed by Daniel Sackheim and written by Wesley Strick with Diane Lane, Leelee Sobieski, Stellan Skarsgard, Bruce Dern, Kathy Baker, Trevor Morgan, Chris Noth, Michael O’Keefe, Vyto Ruginis, Gavin O’Connor, Carly Pope, China Shavers, Agnes Bruckner, Michael Paul Chan, Rachel Wilson.

Note:  Imdb 5.8* out of 10* with 32,741 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 21% with 86 critics, 39% with 53,218 audience scores, Roger Ebert 2*, Slant Magazine 2 1/2* out of 4* Ed Gonzalez, Common Sense Media Melissa Camacho, 2* out of 5*, age 14+, 2* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drug, smoking, Common Sense Media, Melissa Camacho, 2* out of 5*, age 15+, 3* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking.

Special Note;  Leelee Sobieski’s salary for this film was 1 million dollars.  Rita Wilson chose to remain uncredited for her role of Grace Avery-Baker?  The original cut ran for almost 180 minutes before a large reduction in post-production.  The movie that Ruby and her friends are watching in the movie theater scene is not a real film.  It is footage specially created and it was called Prom Nightmare.  There is a Canadian horror franchise titled Prom Night.  This film opened at number two in its opening weekend along with Hardball with Diane Lane.  The Glass House grossed $18,150,259 and 5,469,350 overseas ($23,619,609).  The production budget was $30 million resulting in a loss.