The Glass House

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful, but....
Review: there was more they could have done with it. This had the makings of a decent horror/suspense flick but it suffered from an underdeveloped plot. The basic storyline was good, but they took too much time explaining some things and not enough on other more important details.

Two children are left orphaned and their new "parents" aren't what they seem to be. As the movie unfolds, some parts play out pretty predictably, while others come as a complete surprise. It is the latter that make this movie as good as it is. The acting is pretty average, but all in all you could do worse than spending a couple of hours on this. Fairly entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: inventive
Review: i had rented this once before only to get turned off in the first 20 minutes. after i watched the whole thing it rocks. rubby and bretts parents die in a car accident than they are sent to live with the glass's. they seem perfect at first but then you find out how creepy they are. it starts when ruby is taking a ride with terry. he says he is putting on her seatbelt but he stares at her chest also. than she catches erin shooting crack. she finds out that theyre parents death was set up by the glass's.

Rating:
Summary: The Glass House - Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane
Review: "...A Slick Movie Thriller...", says Michael Wilmington of the 'Chicago Tribune'. And that is exactly right. "The Glass House" delivers chiils, laughs and a whole lot of suspense. Wit impeccable performances by Leelee Sobieski and Stellan Skarsgard, this picture is everything you want.

Summary:

Sixteen year old, rebel, Ruby Baker, and younger brother Rhett have just been put through a horrible ordeal. After an anniversary dinner, her parents, are killed ina terrible car accident, leaving the two children orphaned. After the funeral, the family attorney informs Ruby that her parents carefully considered and designated guardians to take care of Rhett and her, should the parents die together. The guardians are to be former neighbors, and good friends, Erin and Terry Glass. Ruby is a little anxious to join the Glass', because she has no one else to turn to. Once moved in, she becomes overly uncomfortable with the new atmosphere. After, she finds herself in very awkward positions, Terry (male), brushes up against suggestively, she finds Erin passed out, and with needles, and becomes scared for her and her brother.
She eventually finds out the secret of the supposed "perfect" couple. Terry has some serious money problems, and Erin is a doctor on her own medicine, and they are using the children's trust money. Also, the biggest shocker is, when they find out the truth of their parents death.
This one is a practical horror/mystery movie, but although seeming as a all cliched flick, it is none of the sort. Great performances are delivered, both dramatic, comedic by Sobieski as a sarcasm filled teenager, which at sometimes, seems very funny, and a powerful performance from Stellan.

Letter Grade : B-

Rating:
Summary: Sullen teen trapped with evil guardians
Review: Ruby (Leelee Sobieski) and her 11 year old brother and sent to to live with The Glass family after their parents die in a car accident. Things get creepy right away, as Mr. and Mrs. Glass's veneer of friendliness begins to fade away and their true colors appear. Mr. Glass seems to have more than fatherly intentions towards Ruby and Mrs. Glass is a drug addict (although she says she is a diabetic...uh-huh, sure..) They are far from the compassionate caretakers they pretend to be and their motive is greed- pure and simple. The children have inherited a fortune and the Glasses need money. Badly.
Unfortunately, the promising setup falls flat. Leelee Sobieski, a capable actress in other movies, is sorely miscast in this one. Her continually sullen dimeanor makes it hard to warm up to her. In fact, no one in this movie is particularly watchable or likeable.
Evem worse the plot has more holes than a sieve and isn't scarey as much as it is just plain silly. If you're into architecture, however, you will love the Glass's house. It appears to be made entirely of glass (the Glasses live in a glass house, get it?) and it is truly breathtaking. I would have enjoyed a 2 hour video tour of the house instead of the time wasted watching the movie.

Rating:
Summary: "it won't diasappoint"????!!
Review: Well, if the movie will not disappoint you, I don't know what will...

Rating:
Summary: Predictable, yet fun...
Review: Horror movies can be categorized into two camps: original and formulatic/predictable. The former are groundbreaking, such as "Psycho" or the 1st "Nightmare on Elm St." The latter can best be illustrated by films like "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

"The Glass House" falls into the latter category. But you know what's funny? After viewing a film that is formulatic/predictable, many movie goers swear up and down that they will never watch such a "stupid and predictable" movie again. But...we keep coming back for more of the same.

Yes, "The Glass House" is predictable. Yes, it becomes almost a parody of what its early scenes tried to be. However, there were some tense moments created by the director, and some creepy acting by Stellan Skarsgård and Diane Lane.

My wife and I had fun watching it because of the infrequent tense moments and the stereotypical script. However, I wish that amazon.com would incorporate 1/2 star ratings, because this movie was more of a 2 1/2 star flick than a 3 star flick.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Suspense Thriller
Review: Well first let me say that Leelee Sobieski is one of my favorite actresses. Today I found out that I'm not the only one who thinks she looks just like Helen Hunt! Well anyways it was a great movie with a wery well written plot. The cinematography was done well also. The reflections of the water in the glass make the movie creepy and help to biuld the suspense. At many ponts in the movie you think someone is going to jump out and grab Ruby (Leelee Sobieski's character). Well if you're looking for a great renter or buyer, get this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: You can see right through it.
Review: This is the kind of movie I'd expect to see on HBO some night starring Elizabeth Berkley and Lance Henrikson, not coming to a theatre near me with Leelee Sobieski and Stellen Skaarsgard. Okay, I'd trade Stellen for Lance everyday of the week and twice on Sunday, but you get the idea.

Ruby (Sobieski) is a fun-loving normal teen until her parents' untimely demise in a car accident. Along with her brother, she is sent to live with the Glasses...Glass's...Glassesses. Whatever. You can probably guess if you've seen these kinds of movies that they appear normal at first but after a while Mrs. Glass (Diane Lane) starts to look like an obsessive flake and Mr. Glass (Skaarsgard) starts to look like a leering, horny, letch. Of course, no one will believe Ruby when she tells them. You probably could guess that. The whole thing reaches its conclusion in a ludicrous car battle between Leelee and Stellan (in full Jason-you-can't-kill-him mode) and some guys that Stellan owes money to thrown in for fodder.

Let's do a post-mortem. There's nothing really wrong with The Glass House (not in a Freddie Got Fingered way). It's just kinda blah. The only reason I feel an ounce of sympathy for Ruby is because she's played by Sobieski who could bring warmth to a Hillary Clinton biography. Sorry, Hill. Stellan is good, but not as good as in Insomnia. And why put Diane Lane in this movie and give her so little to do. Jennifer Rubin could have played the exact same role just as effectively (and probably a lot cheaper).

The place where this movie really excels and separates itself from the made-for-cable stuff you see on HBO is the cinematography. The whole movie just looks amazing. The Glass's house, while luxurious, is cold and forbidding (just like the Glasses). It almost feels like they said "Hey, we have this house that looks really cool, come up with a movie for it." If you have HDTV with a 16:9 screen I could almost recommend this movie just to show it off. Almost.

Try to catch it on cable instead.

Rating:
Summary: Leering at Leelee-Let us count the ways
Review: ... The young actress who made her mark ...in "Eyes Wide Shut" has now become more voluptuous, and Hollywood is apparantly full speed ahead in getting her wet and unclothed in "serious" movies.

I am giving away no plot by saying this is one of those films where the main characters are put into a new situation that turns out to be menacing. Usually, these films show things going fine, and small things start happening to make the heroes start wondering what they got themselves into. This movie doesn't waste time with such formalities.

The plot concerns a slilghtly rebellious teenager and her younger brother all of a sudden becoming orphans. They are immediately given sympathetic offers of help from all sides by various relatives and acquaintences. Problem is that each offer seems to come with a leering or menacing look from the offerer, which naturally makes her more uncomfortable.

For whatever reason, they choose to come live with a couple who seem to be a friend of the family, even after getting an offer from a blood relative. Maybe it's because the friends of the family live in a multi-million, state-of-the-art, everything-always-in-its-place ...[sea-side] mansion. But instead of at least appearing like a decent deal from the beginning, the couple seems creepy right from the start. ...

And the couple is not just plain creepy. They are domineering, self destructive creeps who are pretty much portrayed as evil from day one. This could still possibly work in a movie if they would have brought in some buckets of horror and terror a lot earlier into the movie. But it doesn't. ...

... If they wanted to make a good movie, it should have been a lot more intense a lot quicker, and they should have kept the intensity throughout. But they took it easy, and figured if you are content to watch a nineteen-year-old play a sixteen-year-old, you'll buy a ticket.

Rating:
Summary: Good, old-fashioned suspense
Review: With the exception of JOY RIDE and THE GLASS HOUSE, most modern thrillers use gore and loud bursts of music to startle the audience. This film is a refreshing trip back to the world of suspense.

With a modern-day 'Hansel & Gretel'-type plot, this is an interesting and creepy movie that you MUST watch in the dark!