Scuppered by his own scoop

Stephen Glass was an American reporter who made up his stories. For years he wrote for the austere New Republic Magazine, but most of what he wrote was entirely fabricated - not just quotes or names, but the scoops, too.

He was hooked on the rush he got from telling his colleagues about some great new lead, and, being charming and young, he got away with it, until some canny reporter at an online magazine (Steve Zahn) rumbled him.

Director Billy Ray tells the real-life tale in a too down-at-heel manner, keen to make us understand what a nightmare everything turned out to be for the people who worked with Glass. Being a film about fibs, it is desperate not to tell any. Big mistake.

We never come to understand or celebrate Glass (played by Hayden Christensen), who must have been a glorious fantasist, a genuine psycho, the kind of guy who could hold a match until it burnt his fingers and keep smiling.

Shattered Glass
Cert: cert12A