TV REVIEW : ‘Undercover Cop’ Covers Its Subject Clumsily

If you’re a sucker for hidden-camera stuff, then “Confessions of an Undercover Cop” might sound worth tuning in. This HBO documentary, debuting tonight at 10 on “America Undercover,” follows burly New Jerseyite Mike Russell around as he sets up a phony business next to some suspected mobsters.

A hidden camera (when it’s used, the picture on the screen is confined to a circle) spies on the suspects, but all we see of the alleged Mafia bosses and underlings are shots of them as they walk and drive around the streets of Newark. Most of the rest of the 45 minutes is filled out by shots of Russell as he packs, barbecues, chops wood, shows us around his fake office (“Here’s the suntan lotion I use”) and gets unaccountably excited at the sight of any possible Mafia man.

On the sound track we hear the foul-mouthed temporary undercover cop constantly deride the people he is deceiving. As if that weren’t enough, the last several minutes of the program is given over to his final, gloating potshots as he watches tapes of their court hearing. Despite his joy, you’re not really convinced that he played a crucial part in the bust or that he gained much from it (he’s now living in another state under an alias), except for his own one-time HBO show.

“Confessions of an Undercover Cop” is initially promising, quickly disappointing, repetitive, exploitative, amazingly clumsy and confusing. If it had been just a little dumber, one could recommend the show as unintentionally funny. No such luck.

The special repeats on July 21, 24, 27 and Aug. 5 and 9.