The Glass Shield

SYNOPSIS

This worthy if over-elaborate thriller is based on a true story about the first black cop to be assigned to a California sheriff's department. Michael Boatman plays the eager young recruit who finds himself contending not only with the racist attitudes of his all-white colleagues, but a web of corruption that leads to the highest level. There's solid support from Lori Petty, Ice Cube and old hand Michael Ironside, but director Charles Burnett occasionally gets too bogged down in the intricate plot to allow any excitement.