Oscar Shaw, Starring Michael Jai White

The Disney Company is sure to love this movie, since the leader of the drug-dealing Park Side Killers gang dubbed himself “Tron.” Possibly, he was referring to another Tron, like a vacuum tube magnetron or a public weighing station. Regardless, Tron is very bad for business for the bodegas he shakes down and terrorizes. Sharp dressing Oscar Shaw is appalled by their cruelty, but the ex-cop involuntarily retired from law enforcement. Yet, things get so bad his conscience will not allow him to stay on the sidelines in R. Ellis Frazier & Justin Nesbitt’s Oscar Shaw, which releases today on VOD.

Any sane police captain would want cops played by Michael Jai White and Tyrese Gibson on the streets, busting criminals. However, their thoroughly corrupt boss Archer scapegoated them—and then got promoted to commander.

The unnamed city has not fared well since then. Tron and his accomplices just shot the owner of Shaw’s favorite bodega and kidnapped his daughter. The last straw breaks when his former partner Ray Jay is killed in a highly suspicious home invasion. Nothing was stolen, but they also killed Jay’s cat, Buster (don’t worry, it isn’t shown on-screen).

Soon, Shaw is asking tough questions, attracting the attention of Tron’s Killers. Nevertheless, Shaw devotes equal time (if not more) to straightening out Andre, a basically good kid, stuck with an abusive addict for a father.

Although Frazier and Nesbitt fail to capitalize on White’s martial arts chops, Oscar Shaw still definitely lands well within the action genre. However, the most memorable scenes are not fights or shootouts. Instead, they viscerally and graphically depict the horrifying reality of street crime. The menacing of Jintao Kwon’s bodega-owning family and the overdose death of a young single mother are deeply disturbing to witness—as indeed they should be.

To some extent, Oscar Shaw appears to be an attempt at a grittier, revisionist vehicle for White. However, it lacks the depth of Eastwood’s Gran Torino, or even more thoughtful and mature Van Damme movies, like The Bouncer and Darkness of Man (both of which are unfairly underappreciated). Still, the ambition is appreciated.

Of course, White has instant action cred and he has some nice scenes trying to get through to the very much at-risk Andre. Vince Jolivette is flamboyantly sleazy as Archer, while Gibson shows signs of potential chemistry with White, but it never builds into anything, due to Jay’s quick exit. However, Isaiah Washington steals every scene as Shaw’s acerbic bartender, Ernie (who takes a dim view of liberals—he is a small business owner, after all).

Oscar Shaw definitely feels zeitgeisty. It is small in scoop and allows White little space to stretch his dramatic chops, but it is brutally honest, in ways we rarely see in supposed “street-smart” crime movies. For White’s fans, it is not as fun as Trouble Man, but it has more meat on its bones than recent movies like Exit Protocol or Take Back. Better than average VOD action, Oscar Shaw releases today (1/9) on VOD.