The Glass Shield
June 1995
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Synopsis
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4.6
5 total
5 4
4 0
3 1
2 0
1 0
Owen Gleiberman
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.
Todd McCarthy
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.
Peter Rainer
It'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.
Peter Stack
An implausible, wearisome clunker trying to ring true but making only dull thuds.
James Berardinelli
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...
Critic reviews
Owen Gleiberman
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.
Todd McCarthy
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.
Peter Rainer
It'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.
Peter Stack
An implausible, wearisome clunker trying to ring true but making only dull thuds.
James Berardinelli
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...
Hal Hinson
It has both ideas and a point of view. But the ideas are far from new, and the point of view is blatantly knee-jerk.
User reviews
Cast and credits
Actors | Ice Cube, Michael Boatman, Lori Petty |
Producers | Thomas S. Byrnes, Carolyn Schroeder |
Director | Charles Burnett |
Writers | Charles Burnett, John Eddie Johnson, Ned Welsh |
Additional information
Rotten tomatoes® score
Audio language
Subtitles
English
Rental period
Start within 30 days, finish within 48 hours.
Info cards
Run time
110 minutes
Rating
PG-13
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