SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE GLASS HOUSE

"THE GLASS HOUSE"
(2001) (Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Moderate	Extreme	*Moderate	Heavy

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	Minor	Extreme	None	Mild

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Minor	Moderate	Moderate	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Suspense/Thriller: After their parents are killed in a car crash, a teen and her younger brother move in with her parents' best friends, only to discover that their seemingly idyllic new home is anything but that.

PLOT:

Ruby Baker (LEELEE SOBIESKI) is a typical 16-year-old girl who enjoys hanging out with her friends and getting away with some misbehaving. Her world is turned upside down, however, when her parents, Grace (RITA WILSON) and Dave (MICHAEL O'KEEFE), are killed in a car accident, leaving Ruby and her 11-year-old brother, Rhett (TREVOR MORGAN), orphaned.

Yet, they're not on their own or in dire financial straights. As informed by estate attorney Alvin Begleiter (BRUCE DERN), Ruby and Rhett's parents left them a trust worth $4 million and guardians in the form of Terry (STELLAN SKARSGÅRD) and Erin Glass (DIANE LANE), their former next-door neighbors and parents' best friends.

Moved away from their friends and school in the valley to the Malibu coast and into the Glass' huge, glass-walled home, the siblings try to get on with their lives as best as possible. Yet, as they try to adapt to their new lifestyle, Ruby starts seeing and sensing various things that begin to make her uncomfortable around and apprehensive toward Terry and Erin.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of someone in the cast, such as Sobieski ("Here on Earth"), or suspense-based thrillers, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For sinister thematic elements, violence, drug content and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: LEELEE SOBIESKI plays a teenager who's sent to live with her parents' friends after her parents are killed in a car crash. Although things seem idyllic at first, she then becomes suspicious of their motives and tries to save her and her brother's hides. She briefly smokes and uses some profanity.
TREVOR MORGAN plays her 11-year-old brother who doesn't see or sense the same peculiarities until later in the story.
DIANE LANE plays the doctor and wife who, along with Terry, takes in the kids, but usually ends up strung-out due to her morphine addiction.
STELLAN SKARSGÅRD plays her domineering husband who has ulterior motives regarding the kids (he wants their money and will do anything to get it). He drinks and uses some profanity.
BRUCE DERN plays an estate attorney who may or may not be conspiring with Terry.; TREVOR MORGAN plays her 11-year-old brother who doesn't see or sense the same peculiarities until later in the story.
DIANE LANE plays the doctor and wife who, along with Terry, takes in the kids, but usually ends up strung-out due to her morphine addiction.
STELLAN SKARSGÅRD plays her domineering husband who has ulterior motives regarding the kids (he wants their money and will do anything to get it). He drinks and uses some profanity.
BRUCE DERN plays an estate attorney who may or may not be conspiring with Terry.; DIANE LANE plays the doctor and wife who, along with Terry, takes in the kids, but usually ends up strung-out due to her morphine addiction.
STELLAN SKARSGÅRD plays her domineering husband who has ulterior motives regarding the kids (he wants their money and will do anything to get it). He drinks and uses some profanity.
BRUCE DERN plays an estate attorney who may or may not be conspiring with Terry.; STELLAN SKARSGÅRD plays her domineering husband who has ulterior motives regarding the kids (he wants their money and will do anything to get it). He drinks and uses some profanity.
BRUCE DERN plays an estate attorney who may or may not be conspiring with Terry.; BRUCE DERN plays an estate attorney who may or may not be conspiring with Terry.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this suspense thriller that's been rated PG-13. Violence is listed as extreme due to various deaths (via a knifing, a person purposefully driving a car into someone, several characters dying in car accidents), while other non-lethal violence is also present (people hitting others, etc., with some of that involving children as the victims).

Some of those scenes have bloody results, while they and others may be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers as two kids also try to elude a madman who's after them. One car accident orphans two kids who must then go and live with their new guardians.

Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while one character is addicted to morphine, another drinks, and some teens smoke. Profanity consists of at least 2 uses of the "s" word, while a handful of other expletives and colorful phrases are also present. One instance of non-explicit, sexually related dialogue is present, while a teen is briefly seen in a skimpy bikini and bra in separate scenes.

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific information about what's present and occurs during the film.

For those concerned with repeated flashes of bright light on the screen, some of that occurs (but not in strobe-like fashion) during a thunderstorm scene.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Grace and Dave have champagne with dinner.
Terry and Erin have wine with dinner and then have it in front of them again in another scene.
Ruby sees many vials of morphine in Erin's medicine cabinet as Erin gives her a pill for menstrual cramps that later makes Ruby act drugged/high.
Terry has a drink with dinner.
Ruby sees Erin looking strung-out/high with a syringe in her hand (after presumably injecting herself with morphine).
Erin has wine in front of her during dinner and later acts drugged up.
Terry has a drink.
There are comments that Ruby's father was drunk and that's what caused the fatal car accident.
Terry has a drink.
Erin administers some morphine to Ruby to sedate her (as Terry has her pinned to the floor). After that, Terry states that they're "dry" and that he'll have to go out and get some drugs to take care of Ruby (he later returns with some pills, but they're never used).
Erin acts strung-out/high again, apparently from more morphine.
We see that a person has died from a drug overdose.
Terry takes a bottle of Vodka from the freezer and later appears to be passed out from it (although he quickly comes to).

BLOOD/GORE: A scene from a made-up horror film plays in a theater and shows a killer coming after a young woman with a large knife that has some blood on it (and he tries to strike her with it). We then see a dead person with blood on their face.
During a driver's education class, a film plays that briefly shows various dead and bloody car crash victims.
Terry's head has some blood on it after he's been hit there.
We briefly see a dead man with some blood on his head, as well as a slightly bloody sheet covering another dead body.
A man is rather bloody after surviving a car accident, and we then briefly see some blood come from his mouth after he's struck by another car.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Terry and Erin have both types of attitudes, not only for the way they treat the kids at times, but also for their ulterior motive regarding them and their money.
Ruby and her friends conspire to lie to their parents about them spending the night at another's house when they really have other plans.
It's implied that Terry was watching Ruby change clothes when she was doing so out in an open-air hallway and that Erin later eavesdropped on Ruby's telephone conversation.
Terry stares at Ruby's cleavage (she's 16 and in a skimpy bikini and he's her guardian) before handing her a towel. After that, Terry makes inappropriate comments and actions toward her (including leaning over her in a suggestive fashion to buckle her shoulder belt and touching her on the shoulder at another time).
Terry drives like a madman down the highway at night, swerving through traffic at high speeds (and nearly hitting another vehicle) with Ruby as his frightened passenger.
Ruby wakes up to discover that Terry has written her paper on Hamlet for her. She then turns it in, only to discover that he stole the wording from someone else.
Terry acts rudely toward a social worker who shows up to check up on the kids and their new environment.
Ruby discovers that Terry and/or Erin have been throwing away her mail.
Ruby steals Terry's car from the garage at night and lies to her brother about why they're leaving in the middle of the night (to persuade him to come).
Terry lies and acts rudely toward a loan officer at a bank.
We see Erin stealing morphine from work.
Some loan sharks have both types of attitudes for being just that, and for killing a man who had some bad attitudes himself.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may also be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers, although one's reaction to such material will depend on their tolerance for it (the easily frightened will find it very suspenseful, while others will probably only find it moderately or less so). In addition, various scenes have suspenseful music playing in them, even when nothing ultimately happens.
A scene from a made-up horror film plays in a theater and shows a killer coming after a young woman with a large knife that has some blood on it (and he tries to strike her with it). We then see a dead person with blood on their face.
Terry drives like a madman down the highway at night, swerving through traffic at high speeds (and nearly hitting other vehicles) with Ruby as his frightened passenger.
As Ruby eavesdrops on Terry's phone call with some loan sharks, he hears her and then slowly makes his way toward her, with her seemingly being unaware of him approaching. Moments later, she's hiding from him, but manages to escape detection.
Ruby sneaks through Terry and Erin's bedroom at night, trying to lift his keys and not wake them (a several minute sequence). After she steals Terry's car (with Rhett in tow), she erratically drives down the road, nearly hitting or being hit by various other vehicles. Stopped at a roadblock, they then see Terry coming up behind them.
Ruby tries to run away but Terry grabs her and they struggle. She then bites his arm and he backhands her to the ground. He then drags her across the floor by her feet until she kicks him in the crotch. She then tries to run, but he jumps on top of her, pinning her to the floor where Erin then administers some morphine to Ruby to sedate her.
Ruby wakes up to find a dead body in bed with her.
Terry slowly makes his way through the house, hunting for Ruby and Rhett (as they hide).
Rhett slowly tries to take some keys from Terry's hand as the latter lies asleep and/or passed out.
A car goes down a steep road out of control due to its brake line leaking fluid. It repeatedly crashes into the back of another car, eventually forcing it into the path of an oncoming truck (that hits and destroys the car, presumably killing the driver). The out of control car then swerves down the road before blasting through a concrete wall and crashing down a hill (presumably killing the driver).
The kids try to start a car and escape as a madman approaches them with a gun behind his back.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Large knife/blade: Carried by a killer in a horror film that plays within this film and used in an attempt to harm a victim.
Switchblade: Used by a loan shark/thug to stab and kill a man.
Handgun: Carried by a man behind his back and used once to shoot at an oncoming car.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Scared the living crap out of me," "Sucks," "Freak out," "You scared the crap out of me," "Hell if I know," "Jerk," "Bastard(s)," "Nuts" (crazy) and "That little bitch."
Rhett sticks his tongue out at Ruby with some food on it.
One of Ruby's friends stands up through a sunroof in a moving car.
Ruby sprays some perfume (or something similar) into the air and then walks through it to mask the smell of the cigarette she's just been smoking.
Terry drives like a madman down the highway at night, swerving through traffic at high speeds with Ruby as his frightened passenger.
Ruby spits in Terry's face (after he has Erin inject Ruby with some morphine to sedate her).

JUMP SCENES: A large amount of water suddenly hits a car windshield.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays throughout much of the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 2 "s" words, 7 craps, 5 hells, 4 S.O.B.s, 2 damns, 2 uses of "G-damn" and 1 use each of "God" and "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: We briefly see Ruby in her bra as she changes clothes.
We see Ruby in a very skimpy bikini that shows cleavage (that Terry stares at before handing her a towel).
After a new classmate mentions hearing about Ruby being on academic probation at her old school, Ruby jokingly states that she had sex with the dean of students and the offense was then taken off her record.
Ruby shows some cleavage in several tops that she wears in different scenes, while a few other characters also show cleavage.

SMOKING: Ruby smokes once, while some of her friends also smoke.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car crash and the kids must deal with that (including receiving the news and then the ensuing funeral scene, but their grief doesn't last long in the film) and then being sent to live with others who will act as their guardians. Ruby also has a brief nightmare where she sees her mom and then a great deal of distance spreads between them.
Ruby meets her estranged uncle at her parents' funeral (she hasn't seen him in ten years).
Ruby hears Terry and Erin arguing and he later tells Ruby that living with Erin can be lonely.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Losing one's parents and parents' plans for their kids should anything happen to them (the parents).
What to do should a guardian or caretaker act inappropriately toward kids, and getting adults to believe that.
Addiction to pain killer medication such as morphine.

VIOLENCE: A scene from a made-up horror film plays in a theater and shows a killer coming after a young woman with a large knife that has some blood on it (and he tries to strike her with it). We then see a dead person with blood on their face.
Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident (we see several, brief flashbacks to it that show it in a disorienting, but possibly unsettling fashion) and it's later implied that they may have been the victims of foul play.
Ruby sees Terry's face smashed up against a window by some loan sharks/thugs.
Terry smashes a cordless phone in anger and then violently sweeps some items from a countertop.
Ruby drives Terry's car through their front gate.
Ruby tries to run away but Terry grabs her and they struggle. She then bites his arm and he backhands her to the ground. He then drags her across the floor by her feet until she kicks him in the crotch. She then tries to run, but he jumps on top of her, pinning her to the floor where Erin then administers some morphine to Ruby to sedate her.
Terry grabs Erin and pins her back against a wall during an argument.
Terry suddenly grabs Rhett by the hair and drags him along until Ruby clocks him on the head with something that cuts him and knocks him down. The kids try to escape, but Terry then grabs both and tosses them down some steps into a locked basement.
A loan shark grabs a man and pushes him backwards. When that man tries to leave, the other man stabs him in the gut with a switchblade and kills him (no blood).
A loan shark pushes a man back against a wall, and moments later pushes him down onto a car as he and another man wrap his hands together behind him with tape. One then punches that man in the gut.
A car goes down a steep road out of control due to its brake line leaking fluid. It repeatedly crashes into the back of another car, eventually forcing it into the path of an oncoming truck (that hits and destroys the car, presumably killing the driver). The out of control car then swerves down the road before blasting through a concrete wall and crashing down a hill (presumably killing the driver).
A man punches a sheriff in the face.
A man fires one shot at a car just before it strikes and presumably kills him.

Reviewed September 14, 2001 / Posted September 14, 2001

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.