I don't know about you, but I've seen so many hard boiled cop thrillers I've lost track. That includes the type with an unfair world as otherwise good men are tempted to the dark side for cold hard cash. 'Under Oath' obviously belongs to this genre and while it's story beats are very stale a solid cast amongst some palpable tension make this low budget dtv flick a better watch than it should be.
Veteran detective Hollit (Jack Scalia) and partner Ramírez (Eddie Velez) are getting tired seeing scumbags skate on technicalities. Then the city puts a freeze to any cop raises. Hollit gets the notion to ripoff one to even the playing field, but the target they choose flashing big sums is undercover ATF and he's accidently killed. Assigned the case gives them some breathing room, but evidence left and right means time is running out.
"We're supposed to be the good guys ..."
You get known faces James Russo as a police captain, Richard Lynch & Robert LaSardo putting in rare good guy roles as ATF plus Abraham Benrubi. Lastly a blink and you'll miss it bit part for Clint Howard as a corrupt cop. The main characters might go down in predictable fashion, but Scalia & Velez ultimately hold everything together. Both feel real.
"It's just you and me now ... all we got is each other."
'Under Oath' is a flick with a tale that's a dime a dozen. However this familiar morality play hits better than some ones who did it with bigger budgets, casts, directors etc. Genre fans might want to check this one out and it's certainly head & shoulders above most pics New Concorde and legendary shlock producer Roger Corman put out.
