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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Let's be realistic.
Disturbing yet enthralling
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.
Charles Burnett sculpts the movie with star protagonist JJ or John Johnson played by Michael Boatman is a young African American Cop who is excited and eager to be a police officer. He soon realizes that being a police officer is not what he expected as he soon realizes the wrong and dishonest dealings going on with in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Our young Valen JJ teams up with another minority, young female officer Deborah Fields (Lori Petty) to right the wrongs and restore justice as any honest, moralistic young adult would do. These young officers' morals are what drives the plot and leads their actions to fulfill justice in their hypocritical department.JJ's suspicions began when he is involved with the unlawful arrest of Teddy Woods (played by Hollywood Star Ice Cube). He is convincingly framed as a murder, so much that JJ believes this until other suspicious behaviors leads him to the truth. Teddy Woods's case goes to court and becomes the center of attention to the audience via Deputy Johnson's role in arresting Mr. Woods, to reveal the injustices of the department. Throughout the judicial fiasco JJ and Deborah are harassed by other officers about being a minority in the white male department. If that isn't enough JJ must deal with a frustrated relationship with his girlfriend (you will have to watch and see for yourself if their romance endures).Young and Zealous JJ deals with more than just romantic issues and physical harassment. He develops an internal struggle with his morals over if it is more important to bring forth justice at whatever cost or bring justice through the law and in accordance with its procedures. This is strategically shown through JJ's interaction with friends and family outside of work. Johnson views many of his colleagues as men seeking to put the bad guys behind bars and willing to bend the rules in order to do so, a white lie as to why you pulled someone over if it means you are putting a bad guy behind bars.Many viewers of the film will undoubtedly connect this film's message with the Black Lives matter campaign and other civil rights protests. This aspect of the movie connects generations of Americans in three generations. A grandparent may connect to it from the civil rights movement in the 1960's, their child may relate to the movie in the time that it was released (1994) along with the Watts Riots, and finally the potential grandchildren and my fellow peers view the movie as a prophecy of the Black Lives matter campaign. While the ending may have been to potential of lack of money (as often is the case in independent films), this eight-million-dollar film does a great job of wrapping the viewer into the film to see a struggle that still is not resolved in our society despite the horrible acting that "hurts like getting hit with a bat". Yes, that is an actual line from the movie that comes during one of the worst scenes of acting I have ever seen. However, director Charles Burnett shows us hope through JJ.
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.
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.
Show was very interesting regarding newcomer cops, especially blacks and females. I really hope this no longer goes on in precincts but unfortunately, it probably happens more often than we'd like to think. Michael Boatman played a very dramatic believable officer - definitely worth watching!