This is a very timely film, and not just because there have been recent cases of young, misguided writers falling from grace for passing off absolute balls as the gospel truth (Jayson Blair and The New York Times suffering protracted public humiliation last year). No, at the very moment when we have cause to question the veracity of what is portrayed as fact by our national press, here is a film which has a great deal to say about the subjectivity of truth and about how what is written down is often taken to be sacrosanct and immutable, even by those who should know better.

Some of the critics reacting to ‘Shattered Glass’ have grumbled that there is no real back-story to explain Glass’ actions, no suggestions as to why someone might be motivated to mislead on such a scale. However, this is a subtle telling of a strange story that doesn’t condescend to its audience and, just as the articles the miscreant reporter cooked up contained clues and oversights that hinted at what he was up to, so the film shows Stephen to be a deeply needy character desperately seeking approval and shunning the real world for one of fancy. Hayden Christensen, familiar to us as Anakin Skywalker from the dire second Star Wars prequel, is a revelation in the lead role, investing his character with a simpering sense of self-pity and delivering his most ingratiating lines (Glass is shamelessly sycophantic and prone to outrageous faux humility) such as the oft-repeated "are you mad at me?" with great conviction. Glass himself didn’t cooperate with the picture and Christensen’s portrayal of the journo almost suggests he’s something worse than a mere sociopath, although being such a weed it would be difficult to envisage Glass attacking anyone with anything other than a paper clip. Anyway, one takes great satisfaction in seeing Glass trying to defend the indefensible and resolutely failing. Glass has had a novel fictionalising his actions published, which would suggest that he has come to terms with his past indiscretions, but seeing yourself up on the screen quivering in the line of an affronted editor’s fire would not be a pleasant experience. You can’t blame Glass for wanting to distance himself from the project.

Tightly-focused low-budget productions such as this by definition foreground the story and the acting: obviously the tale told here is ripping, but the acting of the support cast is of the first order too with Sevigny and Sarsgaard, taking up opposing stances in the wake of Glass’ exposure, particularly impressive.

‘Shattered Glass’ will offer a welcome antidote to this month’s bloated Blockbusters lacking as it does any overwrought CGI or earnest leading men looking off into the middle distance for the sight of onrushing enemies or other impending disasters. What makes this film so dramatic is the way in which none of its protagonists anticipate the scandal until they are all knee-deep in its mess and Ray’s direction, with its cunning use of flashback, clouds our perception of events sufficiently to cause us to question whether Glass is the originator of his embarrassment or rather a naïve victim of a set-up. It’ll have you hooked, but don’t take my written word for it, go see it yourself; I might be making this all up.