Albino Alligator (1996)

Albino Alligator is a relatively short and cheap crime thriller. Still, it managed to hold my attention for its duration. The sets are simple and cheap, but they work. The film has a nice plot with a few good plot twists. I was unable to find something I didn't like about this film. However, I didn't find something I really liked either.

This film is ideal for a rainy evening when you have nothing better to do. It will certainly entertain you for an hour and a half and you will want to know what happens, but you won't stay awake at night thinking about this film. Albino Alligator is a film like there are so many: a nice little diddy, but quickly forgotten.

If this film is on and you don't have anything better to do, by all means watch. But don't rent this film. There are so many better films available.

Fmovies: Although it has been 2 years, I still remember the complete waste that comprises the entire plot of the movie. Unfortunately, I came across this movie after my friends and I selected it while browsing through the new releases at Blockbuster. We decided to pick the movie because it was the only one we all had not seen and it sounded like it may be enjoyable. Although it has been quite some time since I viewed the movie, I still remember the lack of plot (seriously, there is no true plot), and complete waste of time that was spent watching the movie. If you are in the video store and this film catches your eye, walk on and find a better movie. If you did end up seeing this movie, I understand your pain :)

With so much talent aboard this could have been great cinema. That it's not is due to an unsure screenplay, lacking in credibility, though not lacking in promise. The story in itself, if tightened up, could have been riveting. But despite the actor's efforts, "Albino Alligator" fails to deliver the goods. By the end (which in itself is powerful), one has become a bit tired of it all.

Spacey was obviously drawn to the clear theatricality of much of the action taking place on one set, in effect on one stage. It's hence very talky and stagy, though Spacey is careful to keep the camera moving in interesting ways. The few outdoors scenes too are shot with great visual style. Combining a keen eye, together with his understanding of actors and acting, Spacey will probably at some point bring his directorial talents to fruition. Hopefully he will be more fortunate as far as a suitable screenplay is concerned.

Matt Dillon in the lead does a fair job. As is often the case with him, he manages some moments of excellence, but on the whole is capable rather than brilliant. (He sustained an exceptional performance is the "Saint of Fort Washington" and surprised many with "Drugstore Cowboy".). It's as if there is a depth to him which he seems to have a lot of trouble reaching. There is a brief scene in "Albino Alligator" in which he talks to himself in a facing mirror. It's a moment which reveals those depths which so often seem to elude him.

The other players do as well as one would expect. Gary Sinise is superb as Dillon's elder brother, William Fichtner is truly edgy and sinister and Faye Dunaway's bartender has a ring of truth to it.

Despite all this talent and a story with possibilities, this is not one to seek out.

Albino Alligator fmovies. Kevin Spacey is obviously an amazing acting talent, but this film proves that he's almost as good a director. This film was satisfying from beginning to end, and it just got more interesting as it went along. The story is fairly simple, but it was powerfully performed by a hugely talented cast. Dillon, Sinise, and Dunaway all give stand-out performances, but really, the whole cast is top-notch. Mantegna wasn't given as much material to work with, but he still had the only truly funny scene in a generally serious movie, and yet the humor didn't seem out of place. There is certainly room for Spacey to improve as a director, but this is most definitely a great way to start off.

Kevin Spacey's first try at the director's chair is a nice one to say the least, but he could have done much much more with the actors. There are just to many great and known actors in this movie and sadly not enough screen time for every one of them. But this movie has other things to offer; besides the good photography, the nice music and a strong cast it draws its energy from the script that has some great moment(albino aligator), but somehow fails to deliver in the end. "Albino Aligator" will appeal to those who like a dark crime movie but is just to plain to be something more. 6/10

by Dane Youssef

A gang of crooks. The perfect plan. It all goes wrong. They're in trouble. The police are outside. They're cornered. What are they gonna do now?

Sound familiar?

The movie seems like it's trying to be a combination of the acting workshop, the "indie" film and the theater.

It's the kind of things that actors love--it's kind of like a workshop or a play because it mostly consists of tight focusing on the actors acting... acting angry, tense, scared, conversing, scheming, planning--giving the performers a lot of free range to really ham it all up.

A trio of crooks, one leader, one goon, one brother, come up with a big heist scheme... and a monkey wrench is thrown into the works. To top things off, there's a bit of a "fender-bender" and one of the crooks in flung through the back of the windshield.

The cops are on their tail and they stumble into a bar named poetically (and leadenly) "Dino's Last Chance."

Spacey, as a director, tries to keep the focus on the actors' performances and delivery of dialouge. He pans over to a bright passion-red cigarette ad of a smoking and smoldering Bogart. And he keeps all the violence off-screen, really.

I think that was a mistake. Focusing on the intensity and gruesome violent scenes would have given the movie some edge.

The problem with the movie is that it moves too slow and suffers from miscasting in almost every role. Matt Dillon ("Drugstore Cowboy" and "Wild Things") seems too young and too idealistic to be the leader of this gang.

Gary Sinese seems to brooding and deep in thought to be a spineless tag-along with these guys and Joe Mantaga is effective as the traditional routine foul-swearing mad-dog police lieutenant who's all thumbs, but he isn't given anything to really do here.

William Fischter is the only actor who is believable in his role as a brainless grunt who just wants to spill blood.

And the crooks are in a tense situation where they either go to jail or they try to think of some way out of this.

Spacey lacks the ability to create a lot of tension and keep it going. The characters are mostly chatting away, trying to think of a plan... and they're to calm and too articulate. There's even a scene where the crooks are playing pool with a whole swarm of armed cops right outside, ready to strike. At one point, one of the crooks even call the police who are right outside the bar. Oh brother. Oh bother.

These cops are going to either blow them away or going to lock them up. Shouldn't the holed-up crooks be a little scared, a little uneasy? Meanwhile, all the real action is happening inside.

Someone whips out a gun, a baseball bat, which leads to an ugly confrontation off-screen and there's one more casualty that happens that's... well, kinda sad. But...

Faye Dunaway also should have spent more time with a dialect coach, improving on her New Orleans accent. Skeet Ullrich is fine in a smaller part.

A cop listening in reaches for a pack of matches at the absolute worst time is a nice look. And so is a scene where someone goes right through the rear windshield.

The dialouge is obviously trying to go for a David Mamet approach and it's as profane, but never as realistic or as insightful. I'm guessing Christian Forte is a fan Mamet fan.

The movie feels like too much of what it really is... a really