The Glass Shield (The Johnny Johnson Trial) (1994)
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 8
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 5
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 1,149
My Rating
Movie Info
In this crime drama, an honest lawman has to decide where his loyalties lie in a corrupt system. All his life, J.J. (Michael Boatman) has dreamed of being a cop, and after graduating from the Police Academy, he gets his wish, becoming the first African-American policeman based out of Los Angeles' Edgemar station. However, J.J. discovers that his race makes him an outsider among his fellow officers. His presence is not welcomed by his superior, Massey (Richard Anderson), and the only colleague
Dec 31, 1994 Wide
Feb 5, 2002
Miramax
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Cast
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Michael Boatman
J.J. -
Lori Petty
Deborah -
Ice Cube
Teddy Woods -
Michael Ironside
Baker -
Richard Anderson
Massey -
Elliott Gould
Greenspan -
Bernie Casey
Locket -
M. Emmet Walsh
Hal -
Don Harvey
Bono -
Sy Richardson
Mr. Taylor -
Natalia Nogulich
Judge Helen Lewis -
-
-
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All Critics (22) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (11) | DVD (9)
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.
A powerful moral drama that tries to deal with the racism at the root of many problems in contempo American society.
The movie feels sketchy, as if Burnett chopped the flesh off his screenplay and left us only the bare bones.
Top CriticIt's a rigorous, angry piece of work, but it misses out on the psychological depths that have made Burnett's previous films among the glories of recent American independent moviemaking.
An implausible, wearisome clunker trying to ring true but making only dull thuds.
Burnett's screenplay has a tendency to be a little too preachy, especially during the unsatisfying final scene. There's a fine line between getting the message across through subtlety and becoming didactic...
An angry anti-cop message flick directed and written to be subversive by angry LA based indie filmmaker Charles Burnett.
Despite studio interference, it's still a decent film, and the association of a black man and a Jewish woman (as two outcasts) is a welcome addition to the genre.
It's movies like this that spark conversations about... issues. Even when they're this heavy-handed.
Not Cube's best...
Not every lesson is comprised of what you want to hear.
Burnett uses a socially discomforting scenario that has only vague implications of deeper malice to initiate a brave portrayal of a Caucasian-centric sort of martial law.
The film's ambition makes Burnett's occasional overstatement easy to forgive.
It moves along at a healthy clip and for all its one-sidedness develops a sense of urgency and excitement even though we know how things are going to turn out.
Credit writer/director Burnett for having the courage of his convictions, even if the outcome is a film that a lot of people will see as clichéd and stereotyped.
an entirely honorable - if inevitably doomed - attempt to reconcile Burnett's political and social concerns with the requisites of mass entertainment.
Generic racial drama, hindered by a clubfooted direction and lumbering performances.
A surprisingly compelling look at racism amongst police officers.
There was no reason to expect that Burnett, usually an interesting filmmaker, would make a film that had one critic name him "the black Ed Wood."
Definitely not the work of a genius
Audience Reviews for The Glass Shield (The Johnny Johnson Trial)
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Foreign Titles
- The Glass Shield (DE)
- The Glass Shield (UK)
