"There are 16,800 magazines in this country. But only one of them calls itself the in-flight magazine of Air Force One," the infamous journalist Stephen Glass tells a high school journalism class at the beginning of "Shattered Glass." This new biopic retells the story of how Glass, once a rising star at The New Republic, a high-brow national news magazine, deceived his readers and betrayed his editors with several years of fabricated stories."Hart's War" scribe Billy Ray makes his directorial debut, analyzing loyalty, ambition, honesty and office politics. At first glance, the bulk of the cast is a team of talented young writers searching for their break-out story. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that they are ultimately dedicated to their highly-esteemed publication.

Hayden Christensen ("Star Wars: Episode II") is the title character, and while he accurately captures the personable charm that Glass apparently brought to The New Republic, he supplies a subtle creepiness to the role. But despite his initial capability to the role, Christensen often devolves into an apologetic brat. His portrayal of Glass realizes that errors have been made, yet is reluctant to accept responsibility or reveal his journalistic fraud. This is not to say that Christensen supplies an unpleasant character, but he presents many despicable qualities for Glass.

Over the course of the film - set in the spring of 1998 - Glass and his fellow writers work under two regimes. "Shattered Glass" opens when the late Michael Kelly, who died this past May in Iraq, ran the New Republic. Kelly, portrayed admirably here by Hank Azaria ("The Birdcage"), is the writers' best friend and defends them before New Republic publisher Marty Peretz (Ted Kotcheff). Kelly is ultimately replaced by the more obedient Charles Lane (Peter Sarsgaard, "K-19"), now a writer with the Post. Glass and the other writers treat Kelly very much like a beloved older brother, while Lane is perceived as the publisher's lackey. In a show of loyalty, whenever Glass' sources are brought into question, the other writers, most notably the semi-fictitious Caitlin Avey (Chloe Sevigny, "American Psycho") rally to his support.
The bulk of the film's relevant plot comes about with an investigation conducted by the on-line magazine Forbes Digital into one of Glass' articles about an adolescent computer hacker who terrorized a software company. As was the case in 1998, Forbes writers Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn) and Andie Fox (Rosario Dawson) determine that something in Glass' story was amiss. Zahn and Dawson, who recently have worked in little more than low-brow comedies such as "Daddy Day Care" and "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" seem occasionally determined. Yet in many instances, they also appear distracted. Only Sarsgaard as Charles Lane keeps constant pressure on Glass, but even he becomes incredibly grating.

Ray is a decent screenwriter, but his competence as a director needs much development. Although his subject is interesting, the film is unexciting and anticlimactic, even though this is a work based on historical fact. Character flaws are exposed almost too obviously. Glass is too ambitious, Caitlin Avey is unnecessarily sympathetic and Michael Kelly is overly trusting. As a result, the audience is expected to sympathize with a journalist who ensnared the confidence of his editors and loyalty of his colleagues while delivering nothing but lies. There is nothing forgiving about Glass' heinous actions or remorseless personality.

In addition to wounding the credibility of the New Republic, the real Stephen Glass also fabricated his lies in Rolling Stone and George. He finally found an outlet for his fiction this year, with his debut semi-autobiographical novel "The Fabulist."

It is interesting, however, that "Shattered Glass" is in theaters now. One of the principal characters gave his life earlier this year chasing a story, so there is a certain reminiscence of seeing a respected and recently deceased journalist memorialized on the screen. But the film's greater relevance comes from being produced in the wake of Jayson Blair's deception at the New York Times. While Blair's counterfeit articles for the Times brought shame upon that newspaper and infamy upon him, Glass is beyond that in a league of his own.

This movie had a chance to be poignant and insightful, but due to its excessive boredom, it is only well-timed. Earlier films based on journalistic crises such as "All the President's Men" and "The Insider" have been wholly engaging. And while the source material here is rather intriguing, "Shattered Glass" completely lacks the drama and suspense it desperately needs.