The Glass Shield

PG-13

Released Jun 2, 1994

1h 48m

Crime

Drama

List

68%

25 Reviews

Tomatometer

40%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Rookie cop J.J. (Michael Boatman) is the first black officer in his squad. Befriending fellow outsider Deborah (Lori Petty), J.J. has a tough time adjusting to the force's good-old-boy camaraderie. Initially turning a blind eye to hints of racism in order to fit in, J.J. find it harder to ignore the corruption when an illegal search leads to the arrest of Teddy Woods (Ice Cube) on questionable murder charges. As J.J. delves deeper into the case, he risks losing his job -- or his life.

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Critics Consensus

The Glass Shield struggles under the weight of its worthy themes, but emerges as a flawed yet powerful look at systemic racism in modern America.

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Audience Member

Michael Boatman, Lori Petty, Ice Cube, Michael Ironside, Elliot Gould It’s unfortunate to say that this movie truly applies to today’s scary world context especially with the recent unjust killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis Modern racism in America especially during the 90s was escalating to a degree Many blacks still face unfair persecution particularly in law enforcement, several of them die while in police custody In this case a newly recruited officer J. J. played by Michael Boatman hopes to do his part in serving his community but still faces a lot of the backlash from other officers hiding behind their bigotry Even Lori Petty as Deborah Fields, the first female deputy deals with a lot of the male chauvinism in the workforce not to mention she's also called out on being Jewish Ice Cube as Teddy Woods is the latest in a string of wrongfully accused African Americans with the police saying he had a gun to commit a murder But J.J. will do all he can to prove his innocence while also fighting the corruption under the badge It’s awful how much is buried underneath the paperwork but also scary how far certain people are willing to go to silence anyone digging in A good movie; very well-acted with the right amount of raging emotions opening up about the constant corruption and coverups of the police department The ending was just very unsatisfying and it stinks that Ice Cube is only in a fraction of this Again though this movie shows the level of modern racism that shouldn’t be ignored given how frequent it is with director Charles Burnett making a powerful statement

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/10/23

Full Review

jon c

Michael Boatman, Lori Petty, Ice Cube, Michael Ironside, Elliot Gould It's unfortunate to say that this movie truly applies to today's scary world context especially with the recent unjust killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis Modern racism in America especially during the 90s was escalating to a degree Many blacks still face unfair persecution particularly in law enforcement, several of them die while in police custody In this case a newly recruited officer J. J. played by Michael Boatman hopes to do his part in serving his community but still faces a lot of the backlash from other officers hiding behind their bigotry Even Lori Petty as Deborah Fields, the first female deputy deals with a lot of the male chauvinism in the workforce not to mention she's also called out on being Jewish Ice Cube as Teddy Woods is the latest in a string of wrongfully accused African Americans with the police saying he had a gun to commit a murder but J.J. will do all he can to prove his innocence while also fighting the corruption under the badge It's awful how much is buried underneath the paperwork but also scary how far certain people are willing to go to silence anyone digging in A good movie; very well-acted with the right amount of raging emotions opening up about the constant corruption and coverups of the police department The ending was just very unsatisfying and it stinks that Ice Cube is only in a fraction of this Again though this movie shows the level of modern racism that shouldn't be ignored given how frequent it is with director Charles Burnett making a powerful statement

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a wonderful movie about the truth behind the lie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

s r

Ambitious, but the complexity overcame the story. Certainly someone had an agenda here.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Gorgeously lit, but infuriatingly heavy handed and therefore not very enjoyable. Burnett's Killer of Sheep is something to watch for the same commentary on institutionalized racism but far more engaging and poetic.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The Glass Shield tries hard with its messages and themes about racism, but this cop flick is more bummer than thriller.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

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Charles Burnett

Director

Michael Boatman

Johnny `'J.J.'` Johnson

Lori Petty

Dep. Deborah Fields

Ice Cube

Teddy Woods

Michael Ironside

Baker

Richard Anderson

Massey

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

The Glass Shield has a specifically cinematic vision and visual poetry ...

Rated: 3/4

Jun 7, 2022

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Ambition is something to respect in an artist, but Charles Burnett's police-corruption drama The Glass Shield is such a maladroit piece of filmmaking that its weighty themes and sclerotic tangle of a plot end up making it a trial to sit through.

Rated: D

Jul 6, 2010

Full Review

Todd McCarthy

Variety

A powerful moral drama that tries to deal with the racism at the root of many problems in contempo American society.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Sheila Reid

Women in the Life

The fact that this is a true story makes this tale of cruelty and corruption that much more more sobering.

May 13, 2022

Full Review

Calum Marsh

Esquire Magazine

While it carries an unavoidable social charge, the movie never feels dogmatic or moralistic.

Oct 18, 2018

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

An angry anti-cop message flick directed and written to be subversive by angry LA based indie filmmaker Charles Burnett.

Rated: B-

Mar 15, 2013

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Rookie cop J.J. (Michael Boatman) is the first black officer in his squad. Befriending fellow outsider Deborah (Lori Petty), J.J. has a tough time adjusting to the force's good-old-boy camaraderie. Initially turning a blind eye to hints of racism in order to fit in, J.J. find it harder to ignore the corruption when an illegal search leads to the arrest of Teddy Woods (Ice Cube) on questionable murder charges. As J.J. delves deeper into the case, he risks losing his job -- or his life.

Director: Charles Burnett
Producer: Chet Walker
Screenwriter: Charles Burnett, Ned Eddie Johnson, Ned Welsh
Distributor: Miramax Home Entertainment [us], Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax Films
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 2, 1994, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.5M
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Surround

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