Rating: 
Summary: Shallow and predictable
Review: This movie is the 21st centuries version of a "B" rated movie. It is entirely predictable and not very thrilling for being a mystery thriller movie. The acting, well, I hope these actors don't quit their real jobs. You guess the ending before it's over. I would certainly NOT waste $ to purchase this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Broken Script = Broken 'Glass'
Review: The problem with titling a movie The Glass House is that it tempts critics and viewers to throw verbal stones at it. I will try to avoid that temptation, as the movie already has plenty of cracks in it. Strong thrillers are generally those in which the events are fairly plausible -- or at least they are believable enough for you not to question them until after the movie is over. A decent one is one in which the plot is silly but so much fun you put up with it. A mediocre thriller, such as The Glass House, is marred by plot holes so big that they bug you. You can't stop thinking about them. You begin to see the characters' actions as simply responses to the script's absurd demands. The actors start looking like people just working for a paycheck. Sixteen year old Ruby [Leelee Sobieski] and her brother, Rhett [Trevor Morgan], who is twelve, are orphaned when their parents are killed in an auto accident. Their parents' will leaves the kids well provided for, but their choice of guardians is not good. They picked Terry and Erin Glass [Stellan Skarsgaard and Diane Lane], supposedly their best friends. The couple moves Ruby and Rhett into their vast, ultramodern house in California's chic Malibu. The house is all glass, stainless steel, and cold blues, never a good sign for movie orphans. The first weird thing the Glasses do is to house the children together in the same room. Ruby immediately picks up on the strange vibes, while Rhett remains clueless throughout the movie, apparently having suffered permanent brain damage from too much Nintendo. Terry puts the moves on Ruby, while Erin, a pain management doctor, spends her time off shooting up drugs. Could they be after the kid's inheritance? Ruby tries to get help, but nobody believes her. They don't believe her either because the script tells them not to or because she frowns and mumbles all the time. That part about having the same bedroom, which occurs early in the movie, was the first plot hole that threw me. The reason the Glasses do this is never addressed. It's not like there aren't a dozen bedrooms in the place. If the couple is plotting to do away with the kids, wouldn't having everything appear to be normal make sense? Why start off by alarming them? When Ruby goes to the family attorney, he points out that, if they are taken away from the Glasses, they will be made wards of the state. Why? Ruby and the audience find out at the start that she has an uncle in Chicago. Sure, until the funeral, he hasn't been to visit in ten years, but it's obvious he's a nice, caring guy. Best or worst of all is why the parents would entrust their children with the Glasses in the first place. They're obviously fruitcakes, good friends or not. Sobieski, a young Helen Hunt look-a-like, is a fine actress, but she is lost in this material. The pain on her face looks as if it came from long fights with the director over her character's motivation. As the Glasses, Lane and Skarsgaard are great in their quieter moments but are laughable in the scenes where they must be over the top. Bruce Dern has a nice cameo as a sinister lawyer, as does Kathy Bates as a social worker. The photography is first-rate and is the movie's strongest asset. The music is properly chilling. The plot's basic elements have successfully worked in other thrillers. It's too bad the writers' didn't think to watch them first.
Rating: 
Summary: glass house?shattered movie
Review: the glass house...smashes...this movie is so bad...if i could give it zero stars i would....there was nothing good about this movie except the ending...the characters were dull...and boring..the movie was dragged so much you could take the house away and bring it back and they still wouldnt be anywhere..if you want a movie that will put you to sleep this is it...dont buy this movie it is a waist of money...rent it if you dare...but be warned it is terrible....
Rating:
Summary: Beware of flying cliche projectiles
Review: Saying a movie has too many cliches is a cliche in itself, but man, somebody arrived to the set of this movie in an oil tanker filled with cliches and spilled it all over the place. Cliches were flying out of my tv screen like sharp knives putting everyone in my family in danger. My cat found a cliche in her food dish and tried to eat it. But then again, The Glass House was fun to watch in some ways. One being that I was able to predict exactly what was going to happen next every 2.3 minutes. We had the typical "try to quietly steal the bad guy's car keys when he's sleeping then make a little noise and the bad guy tosses and turns a bit but doesnt wake up then you finally get the car keys but he eventually wakes up anyway to chase you" scene. You know that scene? Well it happened two seperate times in this movie! Neither scene was suspenseful, and I'm suprised anyone else felt this movie was suspenseful at all when you can predict what's going to happen next in every scene. LeeLee Sobieski shows potential as an actress, and wasn't too bad here considering the material, but she seemed very bored with the part. If got to a point where ya just want to enter the movie yourself and explain to her how to call the police, or take your clueless Nintendo playing brother and run as far away from this glass house as possible. But then the movie only would've lasted 15 minutes right? Good. I know I'm not supposed to say anything bad about the other reviewers, but I just can't understand how anyone would think this movie was good, suspensful, or scary in the least. What the heck is wrong with you people. 2 stars because the movie looked nice.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Mesmerizing Thriller
Review: The Glass House is one great movie by a beginning director, Daniel Sackheim. Every shot is so perfectly smooth and perfect in every way. I love when the house is dark becuase it adds to the mystery. This film had a great cast. Ruby(LeeLee Sobieski), Rhett(Trevor Morgan), Terry Glass(Stellan Skarsgard), and Erin Glass(Diane Lane). Leelee Sobieski is a great rising actress who is sure to reach the top one day. Trevor Morgan is also pretty good who starred in Jurassic Park 3 and The Patriot. The DVD is pretty good but I was disappointed because there was only one deleted scence and deleted scenes are always my favorite to watch. The picture is perfectly clear throughout the whole movie and the sound is so amazingly great is unbelieveable to your ears. The movie is about the Baker Family. They are ovioulsy a loving family and a family like everyone else. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are a loving couple who care so much about their kids. Ruby and Rhett Baker are like any other kids. They fight. Ruby and her friends stay out at night and Ruby smokes behind her parents back. The night of her parents anniversy Ruby is out late again. When she steps out of the car she smells like smoke so she sprays herself with perfume. When she turns the corner to her house she sees police. She automaticlly thinks her parents called them because they were worried about her. In her house she finds out that her parents were in a car crash and they died. After hearing all this she faints from shock and horror. It then shows her at their funeral. When the priest is done speaking he lets Rhett say a few words but Rhett breaks sown in tears. The Glasses rush up to assist him and Mr. Glass talks about the Bakers for a minute. When outside Ruby is approached by their Uncle Jack who they haven't seen since they were kids. He says that if they ever need any help they can just call him. When Ruby gets home she talks with Mr. Alvin Begleiter who was their parents trust agent. He says that her parents said that if anything ever happend to them that they would trust the Glasses to take care of them. He gives Ruby his card then leaves as Mr. Glass enters. Ruby thanks Mr. Glass. In the nxt scene Ruby and Rhett are moving out of their house to go live with the Glasses. When they arrive at the Glasses house they are surprised. Their house is huge and almost everything is glass. When they are shown their room they are sort of disappointed because they have to share a room. But they get over it because at least the Glasses accepted them. As the movie goes on Ruby finds out horrible things about the Glasses. She discovers their terrible secrets and gets really nervous and afraid. I don't want to tell you anymore because this movie is so phenomehaly great. I'll gurantee you will love this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful, dark movie
Review: Money is the root of all evil in this movie -- and lots of evil there is! Two children are orphaned and old neighbors become their guardians. The guardians are really after the children's inheritence to get out of a frighteningly bad debt. The plot takes some twists and turns and comes to a thrilling conclusion that made my palms sweat. I didn't give this 5 stars though since I probably wouldn't be interested in watching this movie more than once -- it was no classic. Leelee Sobieski, young Ruby, steels the show. If she wasn't in this movie, it would qualify only as a B movie at best. Still, entertaining enough to watch, but rent it, don't buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary but predictable
Review: I found this movie to be scary, but there was no mystery involved. I could tell, from the beginning, what was going on. There is one point in the movie when I thought maybe it was just the girl being suspicious. It may be too much for soneone who is too sensitive to see children in danger. It is a fair (in quality) movie. I have no intention of watching it again.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable yet entertaining
Review: There was a missing element in this supposed thriller. The mystery was all but completely obvious, and even then our heroine, Ruby, goes mainly on suspicion and eavesdropping. Her sleuthing skills are minimal and I felt the process of discovery was forced, random, and left much to be desired. A thriller slowly and steadily reveals the predicament the victim is in rather than have it, literally, walk right through the front door. You basically dislike and suspect the antagonists from the beginning so it's no shock when things start to go downhill. Much of the story is predictable, but the suspense is still exciting. I wish the back story of the Glass' was developed better. The culmination of multiple threads at the end is satisfying and creative. My criticism out of the way, the acting was actually very good and the suspense had me on the edge of my seat. So for pure entertainment value, this was acceptable. And Leelee is excellent as the moody teenage heroine playing Ruby with the right amount of suspicion, arrogance, and ignorance.
Rating:
Summary: Sobieski Saves the Day (and the Film)
Review: That there is nothing new under the sun is aptly demonstrated by this suspense/thriller which, though not too original, has some good moments and boasts a terrific performance by Leelee Sobieski. All of which makes “The Glass House,” directed by Daniel Sackheim, worth a look. It’s a road you’ve no doubt been down before, and pretty early on you have a good idea of where it’s going to wind up; but it’s well crafted and delivered, and serves as a showcase for Sobieski, who is one of the finest young actors in the business today. When their parents are killed in a car wreck, sixteen-year-old Ruby Baker (Sobieski) and her eleven-year-old brother, Rhett (Trevor Morgan), find themselves under the guardianship of Terrence and Dr. Erin Glass (Stellan Skarsgard and Diane Lane), who are apparently well off financially, and have a rather nice house that sits on a cliff in Malibu, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It’s seemingly an idyll setting, but from the moment the children move in the climate within the household seems uncomfortable to all but Rhett. Ruby senses something disconcerting with the arrangement, but there’s not much she can do about it. The executor of the Baker’s will, Alvin Begleiter (Bruce Dern), advises Ruby that if it doesn’t work out with Mr. and Mrs. Glass, she and Rhett would become wards of the court; not a happy prospect. It quickly becomes apparent to Ruby, however, that there’s more than meets the eye at play here, but to whom can she turn? And therein lies the conundrum, because the answer is a resounding “no one.” And especially in the wake of her parent’s death, that’s a tough thing for a sixteen-year-old to have to face. What she doesn’t know, as well, is that it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Director Sackheim does a good job of keeping up the tension in his film, but it could have been more effective had he employed a bit more subtlety and nuance. And he has a troublesome affinity for camera shots through doors that are open just a crack, which allows one character (as well as the audience) to get a glimpse of another, as well as whatever is going on in the next room. Initially, it works; but by the end of the film the impact it affords is diluted by overkill. Things can only go bump in the night so many times, and you can only hold your breath so many times waiting for the eavesdropper to be discovered before it becomes second nature and ceases to be effective. Even so, these are elements that can be overlooked, however, as Sackheim does keep it all moving along at a pace that sustains interest. But the unimaginative ending is something of a letdown, and just too pat to ultimately have much of an impact. The saving grace of the film is clearly Sobieski, who as she matures is emerging as a cross between Helen Hunt and Jodie Foster, but with a talent and style uniquely her own. In Ruby, she delivers a well rounded, three dimensional character which, in lesser hands, could easily have fallen into stereotype. Ruby, however, is anything but. This is a girl who comes from privilege (money, private school), and like any normal teenager has a certain disdain for her parents. She knows her way around and is not beneath sneaking out into uncharted territory occasionally. Sobieski makes her extremely believable, especially in her reactions to all that happens to and around her. The scene in which she learns of her parent’s death is played very well, very real, as are the scenes in which her suspicions become increasingly aroused. And it’s that level of realism she attains and brings to the character that carries the film. Diane Lane, on the other hand, does not fare as well. Her performance as Erin is passable, but fairly weak. She fails to bring anything to the role to make her character unique; it’s as if she never quite got a handle on who this person really is that she’s trying to portray. To be fair, she does have her moments, but overall, her work here is average, at best. In Terry, Stellan Skarsgard creates a character who is not so much sinister as down right creepy. He lacks the menace that would’ve made Ruby’s situation scarier, but in retrospect, his character is more real because of it. And he has a slimy leer that is so very telling in regards to who Terry is. Some of his actions at times seem too “staged,” like when he reaches across Ruby in the car to buckle her seat belt, but that falls on Sackheim, and is certainly not a reflection on Skarsgard’s performance, which is quite convincing. The supporting cast includes Kathy Baker (Nancy Ryan), Michael O’Keefe (David Baker), Rita Wilson (Grace Baker), Chris Noth (Uncle Jack), Rachel Wilson (Hannah), Michael Paul Chan (Mr. Kim) and Carly Pope (Tasha). Though not the greatest movie ever made, this one still has something to offer by way of atmosphere, some suspense, a few thrills and a decent (if not highly original) story. But the main thing “The Glass House” has to offer is the memorable performance by Leelee Sobieski, who takes this film to a higher level single-handedly. In the final analysis, it’s pretty straightforward storytelling, and it is entertaining; for a thriller, you could do much worse. And that’s the magic of the movies.
Rating:
Summary: Not that great
Review: Normally I like movies that star Leelee Sobieski, but the Glass House was disappointing. It was a very slow moving movie. The previews made the movie look very suspenceful, but when I watched the movie, I found myself waiting for the suspenceful parts that never happened. I would not recommend this movie unless you have nothing else to choose from.
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