Movies in Review: "The Oath"

Soooooooo...this movie has been out quite a while, but I had no idea, thinking it was released earlier this month. Anyways, I took my time to see it this weekend and now I'm going to take my time to write this review for GP (general purposes). I honestly had no intentions of seeing this film, as I wasn't the biggest fan of the cast. I can take or leave Tiffany Haddish, as her performances in films are a hit or miss for me (mostly miss). I also could take or leave her male lead Ike Barinholtz. The last few films I've seen him in, his performance was a bust for me. Like Haddish, his comedic deliveries can be a bit over the top and less comedic and just plain annoying. However, my mind changed when I saw it was a black comedy, one of my favorite film genres. I figured in this genre these two actors would have to tone their performances down ~fingers crossed. I wasn't expecting much from this film. I was just hoping to get at least some of the entertainment value I love in black comedies.

I definitely got the entertainment value. This movie was so off kilter for me, I was still trying to figure out if I loved it or hated it when I left the theater, and as I sit here writing, I still don't know. Haddish wasn't as annoying as her other performances. As a matter of fact, her performance in this film reminds me of the character she used to play in that failed sitcom The Last O.G., except that character was odd in the sitcom, but worked better in this film. She was cool, and for the most part enjoyable. Barinholtz stayed on the edge of getting on my nerves, but Haddish and the other characters made his performance easier to handle. The contrast between Barinholtz and Haddish's characters did work well together. The story was ok, and started out a bit slow at first, but picked up nicely in the end. Things got real crazy, very quickly. It was funny and odd all at the same time, if that makes sense. I was entertained and uncomfortable, which was a weird feeling...lol.

The Oath was definitely not what I expected. I enjoyed it, for the most part. I'm having a hard time though saying whether it was really good, or just decent. I'm stuck in the middle, it was definitely entertaining though...B-