The Glass House (film)
Encyclopedia
The Glass House is a 2001 film directed by Daniel Sackheim
and written by Wesley Strick
.
is not a recent one, but in accordance with its terms the children are placed under the guardianship
of family neighbors from some years back, the childless couple Erin (Lane) and Terry (Skarsgård) Glass, who live in a large glass house in Malibu. There are early indications that all is not well - the children have to share a bedroom, they are no longer educated privately, Rhett is allowed to play with games consoles
at all times, and Ruby is made uneasy by Terry's sexual hints when they are alone. Ruby comes across Erin's bathroom cabinet with bottles of Morphine
, Fentanyl and other pharmaceuticals, with no patient/prescriber information on the bottles, and sees Erin injecting herself (though the couple claim this is for diabetes). Ruby tries without success to get the trust fund lawyer to accept her concerns at first, and a visiting social worker is taken in by the Glass's assurances.
There are signs that Terry is in debt to loan shark
s, and Ruby gradually realises that her new foster parents are after the siblings' $4 million trust fund. After some research of her own, Ruby discovers that the car her parents died in was a BMW
loaned from the Glass' company, instead of her father's Saab
, and suspects that Terry was responsible for their deaths.
Ruby then tries to escape from the Glass' house with Rhett by taking Terry's car, but is delayed by a flooded highway. Terry catches up with them and takes them both home. Once back, Ruby tries to make a run for it, but she is grabbed by Terry, and then Erin injects her with a drug.
Ruby remains drugged for around a month. Meanwhile Erin, a doctor and drug addict
, is caught by the medical director taking drugs from the storage for personal use, and is fired. She blames her husband.
Erin watches an old home video of her and Ruby on a beach, happy and healthy. Then, overwhelmed with guilt, she overdoses and dies. Ruby wakes up from her drugged coma with Erin's dead body lying next to her. Shocked to find his wife dead, Terry traps Ruby and Rhett in the basement. Eventually, the two escape.
At the same time, the loan shark's thugs arrive, and they kill the trust fund lawyer who happens to be visiting to confront Terry over his use of the trust fund and the treatment of the children. The thugs take Terry away in his own car, with Terry pleading for them to take the Volvo, without realising that Ruby has managed to slash the tires with an improvised knife. After a brutal car accident due to Terry tampering with his own Jaguar, in the same fashion as he did with the kids' parents, the car runs over a cliff.
The thug is killed, but Terry survives, although heavily wounded. Meanwhile the children are being driven in a police car. The policeman stops at the scene of the accident and is killed by Terry when investigating. After climbing back up the embankment, armed with a gun, Terry tries to lure Ruby and Rhett towards him. Ruby hits Terry with the police car, killing him instantly.
In the end, Ruby and Rhett end up living with their uncle Jack who takes them to Chicago
.
. The Glass House grossed 18 million domestically and 5.5 million overseas.
Daniel Sackheim
Daniel Sackheim is an American TV and film director. He has directed several episodes of the TV show The X-Files, 3 episodes of Harsh Realm, House, and Life, the last two of which he also served on as an executive producer.-External links:...
and written by Wesley Strick
Wesley Strick
Wesley Strick is an American screenwriter who has written such films as the comic-horror hit Arachnophobia, the Martin Scorsese remake of Cape Fear and the videogame adaptation Doom.-Life and career:...
.
Plot
Sixteen-year-old Ruby (Sobieski) and eleven-year-old Rhett (Morgan) lose their parents in a car accident. Their parents' willWill (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
is not a recent one, but in accordance with its terms the children are placed under the guardianship
Legal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
of family neighbors from some years back, the childless couple Erin (Lane) and Terry (Skarsgård) Glass, who live in a large glass house in Malibu. There are early indications that all is not well - the children have to share a bedroom, they are no longer educated privately, Rhett is allowed to play with games consoles
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
at all times, and Ruby is made uneasy by Terry's sexual hints when they are alone. Ruby comes across Erin's bathroom cabinet with bottles of Morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
, Fentanyl and other pharmaceuticals, with no patient/prescriber information on the bottles, and sees Erin injecting herself (though the couple claim this is for diabetes). Ruby tries without success to get the trust fund lawyer to accept her concerns at first, and a visiting social worker is taken in by the Glass's assurances.
There are signs that Terry is in debt to loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
s, and Ruby gradually realises that her new foster parents are after the siblings' $4 million trust fund. After some research of her own, Ruby discovers that the car her parents died in was a BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
loaned from the Glass' company, instead of her father's Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...
, and suspects that Terry was responsible for their deaths.
Ruby then tries to escape from the Glass' house with Rhett by taking Terry's car, but is delayed by a flooded highway. Terry catches up with them and takes them both home. Once back, Ruby tries to make a run for it, but she is grabbed by Terry, and then Erin injects her with a drug.
Ruby remains drugged for around a month. Meanwhile Erin, a doctor and drug addict
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
, is caught by the medical director taking drugs from the storage for personal use, and is fired. She blames her husband.
Erin watches an old home video of her and Ruby on a beach, happy and healthy. Then, overwhelmed with guilt, she overdoses and dies. Ruby wakes up from her drugged coma with Erin's dead body lying next to her. Shocked to find his wife dead, Terry traps Ruby and Rhett in the basement. Eventually, the two escape.
At the same time, the loan shark's thugs arrive, and they kill the trust fund lawyer who happens to be visiting to confront Terry over his use of the trust fund and the treatment of the children. The thugs take Terry away in his own car, with Terry pleading for them to take the Volvo, without realising that Ruby has managed to slash the tires with an improvised knife. After a brutal car accident due to Terry tampering with his own Jaguar, in the same fashion as he did with the kids' parents, the car runs over a cliff.
The thug is killed, but Terry survives, although heavily wounded. Meanwhile the children are being driven in a police car. The policeman stops at the scene of the accident and is killed by Terry when investigating. After climbing back up the embankment, armed with a gun, Terry tries to lure Ruby and Rhett towards him. Ruby hits Terry with the police car, killing him instantly.
In the end, Ruby and Rhett end up living with their uncle Jack who takes them to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Cast
- Leelee SobieskiLeelee SobieskiLiliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski , known professionally as Leelee Sobieski, is an American actress. Sobieski achieved recognition in her mid-teens for her performance in the 1998 film Deep Impact...
as Ruby Baker - Diane LaneDiane LaneDiane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
as Erin Glass - Stellan SkarsgårdStellan SkarsgårdStellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
as Terrence 'Terry' Glass - Bruce DernBruce DernBruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
as Begleiter - Kathy BakerKathy BakerKatherine Whitton "Kathy" Baker is an American stage, film and television actress.-Career:Baker began her career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris...
as Nancy Ryan - Trevor MorganTrevor Morgan (actor)Trevor John Morgan is an American actor. He has appeared in the films Genius, The Sixth Sense, The Patriot, A Rumor of Angels, Jurassic Park III, The Glass House, Chasing 3000, Mean Creek, Barney's Great Adventure, Local Color, Family Plan and Uncle Nino.-Early life:Trevor John Morgan was born...
as Rhett Baker - Chris NothChris NothChristopher David "Chris" Noth is an American actor. He is known for long-running television roles as Det. Mike Logan on the police procedural and legal drama television series, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and as Big on Sex and the City. For the latter role, he has been...
as Uncle Jack Avery - Rita WilsonRita Wilson-Early life:Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff in Los Angeles, California.Her father, a Bulgarian who worked at a racetrack, was born in Greece. Before immigrating to the US, he had lived in Bulgaria and Turkey....
as Grace Avery-Baker (uncredited) - Michael O'KeefeMichael O'KeefeMichael Raymond O'Keefe is an American film and television actor.- Early life :O'Keefe was born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr. in Mount Vernon, New York, the oldest of seven children in a devoutly Roman Catholic Irish American family. His father was a law professor at Fordham University, as well as...
as Dave Baker - Vyto RuginisVyto RuginisVyto Ruginis is an American actor known for playing a vampire, Russell Winters, in the cult TV series Angel in its first episode, "City Of", as well as for his appearances in CSI, House MD, The X-Files, ER, Law & Order and other television programs.Vyto has appeared in such films as "Devils...
as Don - Gavin O'ConnorGavin O'ConnorGavin O'Connor is an Irish actor, known for his roles in Gavin O'Connor is an Irish actor, known for his roles in Gavin O'Connor is an Irish actor, known for his roles in [[TV series] such as [[The Tudors]] and films including Dorothy Mills , Eden , [[The Front Line |The...
as Whitey - Carly PopeCarly Pope-Early life:Pope was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an older brother, Kris, also an actor, and a younger brother, Alexander. She began acting during her high school years in Vancouver where she appeared in stage classics such as The Odd Couple, playing Mickey, and A Midsummer...
as Tasha - China Jesusita ShaversChina ShaversChina Shavers is an American actress. She is also sometimes credited as China Jesushita Shavers usually for her larger roles. She's best known for her supporting roles as Brooke Harper on the high school drama Boston Public and as Dreama on the supernatural sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage...
as E.B. - Agnes BrucknerAgnes BrucknerAgnes Bruckner is an American actress. She began acting on television in the late 1990s and has since appeared in seven films, including The Woods, Blue Car, and Murder By Numbers.-Early life:...
as Zoe - Michael Paul ChanMichael Paul ChanMichael Paul Chan is an American television and film actor. Some of his recent television work includes Judge Lionel Ping on Arrested Development, Robbery Homicide Division, Dr. Lee in the Joel Schumacher directed "Batman & Robin," the voice of Jimmy Ho on The PJ's, and Lieutenant Michael Tao on...
as Mr. Kim - Rachel WilsonRachel WilsonRachel Wilson is a Canadian actress.-Early life:She started acting at age 12, working extensively in Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles....
as Hannah
Box office
The film opened at #2 in its opening weekend at the U.S. Box office, behind HardballHardball (film)
Hardball is a 2001 American dramedy film directed by Brian Robbins. It stars Keanu Reeves, Diane Lane and D. B. Sweeney. The screenplay by John Gatlins is based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Daniel Coyle. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham. The film is known in...
. The Glass House grossed 18 million domestically and 5.5 million overseas.