The Glass Shield (1995)
J.J. is a rookie in the Sheriff's Department and the first black officer at that station. Racial tensions run high in the department as some of J.J.'s fellow officers resent his presence. His only real friend is the other new trooper, the first female officer to work there, who also suffers similar discrimination in the otherwise all-white male work environment. When J.J. becomes increasingly aware of police corruption during the murder trial of Teddy Woods, whom he helped to arrest, he faces difficult decisions and puts himself into grave personal danger in the service of justice.
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I was hesitating between giving 8 or 9 and decided for a 9 when I thought "It was so difficult watching this film - it really showed well how frustrating some things can be in Life; I'm exhausted".And that in itself sums up this film : it does not have the top notch direction of Crash which won the 2006 Oscars, but, just like Crash, I was on the edge of my seat till the very very end of the film. I was punching the wall out of feeling as frustrated as some of the characters, I was tense and worried that someone was going to get shot, I was a total ball of nerves by the end. And for that alone I went for a 9 rather than an 8 : this film is 10 out of 10 in terms of drawing the viewer into the frustrations of police corruption, racism, sexism, cover-ups, minor mistakes which come back to haunt you big time, the effect on communities, fate. It is not a traditional Police film, it is a hundred times more than that.If you liked Crash 2006 (the one which won the Oscars), then you'll like this film. Guarantee.
Glass Shield is an intriguing film, starring Michael Boatman, Ice-T, Bernie Casey, and Lori Petty. The film centers around the corruption of the Ingomar Station around LA.Its one of those films you need to watch several times to understand all of the details. You know, one where there are 900 names thrown around and they expect you to remember all of them even when the names don't depict a character in the film.The comment about this being a leftist movie is definitely true: Anyone black, female, supportive of civil rights, adoptive of children outside your race, etc is good. Anyone white and male in this film is evil (minus the one cop that works in the holding cell).The film is definitely worth watching. It is very suspenseful, and is a very intriguing story. Just be open minded that the writer, or at least the casting director, is probably one of those people who blames white males for everything (crime, racism, etc) without checking the violent crime statistics first.
This movie has got to be one of the worst, most leftist, racially biased movie ever made about cops and non-black people. It feeds into the racial tensions and further perpetuates the myth that all cops and people in office are evil and corrupt. I was watching this movie thinking it should be taking place in Mexico or Russia. However I can't imagine the corruption being that bad even in those countries. This movie had absolutely no technical advisors, no realism, no factuality and was poorly written. On one scene, I saw one of the main character wearing his police uniform with white sneakers. I've never seen that before. The list goes on and on but I wont waste anymore our my time or yours. This is something I would totally expect though from rapper Ice Cube. I'm surprised Snoop Dog didn't make an appearance in this movie. Don't waste your time on this trash.
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.