The Glass Shield

This was a great low budget police film about corruption in the LA sheriffs office. The film revolves around a young black cop, who stumbles onto a corruption case invovling police brutality towards minorities. The film also highlights just how easy it is to get blackmailed by people who are supposed to be on your side. THE GLASS SHIELD while lacking the stigma of bigger films like LETHAL WEAPON, tells a human tale about a cop and his female partner, however, I feel Lori Petty's role could have been bigger. There was another part of this film that touched on something briefly, sexism on the law enforcement circuit. The trailers for thisa movie suggest it was edited heavily and that the character played by Ms. Petty played a significantly larger role in that version. The logical direction for this film would to have been having the black cop and the woman police officer piercing the layer of corruption together in lA. A great film that tells a stroy from a african american point of view. The film also highlights the conflict within the african american/black community towards police and police brutality and how it is hard for even them to sometimes accept black police officers. An interesting film with a interesting and powerful premise. Don't expect a 600 rd. shoot out with "yuck yuck" laughter and Riggs and Murtaugh in this one...expect substance.

The Glass Shield (1994) is a movie that I recently watched on Prime. The storyline follows a black police officer on the force who is trying his best to fit in to the culture of the department. He witnesses an arrest that he knows is wrong; but to fit in, he bites his tongue and lets it go to trial. Once faced with the task of testifying, he will need to decide what's more important - the truth or his job.

This movie is written and directed by Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) and stars Michael Boatman (Hamburger Hill), Lori Petty (Tank Girl), Ice Cube (Boyz n the Hood), Michael Ironside (Total Recall) and Erich Anderson (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter).

The storyline is well written, and the circumstances are a challenge to this very day and the cast is pretty good in name...but Ice Cube is the only performance that is well executed. Lori Petty delivers a strong supporting character also, but the villains were a bit cliche, even if their characteristics are a challenge within our society. Michael Boatman's mannerisms, facial expressions and overall delivery of the main character left a lot to be desired. The dialogue is very well written, as is the court drama, and the ending is worthwhile.

Overall, this is a movie with a solid premise but inconsistent execution. I would score this a 6/10 but strongly recommend it.

I just saw _The Glass Shield_ for the first time since it was released theatrically. I'm very glad to say it hasn't gone stale with time. Despite the violent overtones, the film is a subtle and compelling parable on race, power, and sex in the US. It won't satisfy anyone with the attention span of a fruit-fly or a fetish for blood and guts, but it gets under your skin (so to speak) if you pay it the slightest bit of attention.

As a side note — this is one of the very few feature films chosen by the Whitney Museum of American Art for its biennial surveys of contemporary art (there was another film that year as well, _The Hours and Times_, also excellent).

There's a strong resemblance to the much praised L.A. CONFIDENTIAL in this vivid story of crime and corruption on the police force, based partially on a true story involving these events.

Basically, it's the tale of a black police rookie who tries to fit in by covering corrupt practices and tries to uncover the truth behind the false prosecution of a black man (ICE CUBE). The black rookie (MICHEAL BOATMAN) suffers slurs inherent with being the first black man on the force and other social injustices within the department.

All the performances are first rate, beginning with Boatman, who does a fine job, MICHAEL ANDERSON, BERNIE CASEY (especially good as Ice Cube's lawyer), and ELLIOT GOULD--all first rate. LORI PETTY is also convincing as the only woman rookie who helps Boatman in his investigation. MICHAEL IRONSIDE is chilling as one of Anderson's most corrupt officers.

Given terse direction by Charles Burnett in well paced, brisk, documentary style, it maintains a grip on the attention throughout as it unravels a tale of police corruption and the hard decisions that have to be made.

The movie sends a good message. As clichéd as it sounds: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. As other viewers have noted, this movie is low budget and not overtly action packed. But it does showcase very well what can happen when trying to fit in: Loosing sight of what is right and wrong, then trying to do what is right and getting penalized for it from different directions. Many movies do an awesome job in telling a tale. This is one of them. The message of being drunk with power and corruption among peers is something that is not only seen in the law enforcement institutions, but in the corporate and higher education areas as well. It just appears that corruption is more harmful in law enforcement because there is the higher probability that people may become physically and psychologically damaged (on the deepest level) as a result of corrupt people misusing their guns, badges, and utmost authority). The movie is more likely to hit home for someone who is female and/or a minority who has had some in-depth exposure to law enforcement. While many police officers are, for the most part, decent and on the level, I would say that EVERY law enforcement agency has some level of corruption occurring. The corruption can be a lone officer or two belittling citizens unjustifiably (and getting away with it), or a group of them who systematically abuse power. Perhaps a film like this would be worth mandatory viewing for new police recruits. There is something in it for everyone. Not only is there the lesson of how wrong and nasty discrimination is (especially in groups), but there is also the lesson of your own well meaning, however wrong actions, coming back to haunt you. And finally there is the lesson of how harassment, alienation and adversity are often used as cruel weapons in attempts get others to conform to wrongdoing.