Customer Reviews

Albino Alligator [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It was always obvious that Kevin Spacey would only ever assemble a first rate cast for his first movie as director, and he was as discerning with his choice of script as director as he is with his acting jobs. This movie plays like a play and tellingly the best performances come from the stage actors. Gary Sinise delivers a controlled performance that demonstrates the humanity of his character, while William Fichtner manages to carry the bulk of the humour and the horror without going over the top. The script and Spacey's direction keep the tension high despite being confined to one room for much of the movie (think 12 Angry Men - Spacey actually consulted Sidney Lumet for advice).

Where the film falls down is in the weak performances of two of the most important characters, played by Matt Dillon and Faye Dunaway. Both performances are one-dimensional and affected (and Dunaway has the complexion of a Barbie doll - plastic). The rest of the cast has little to do but make the most of what they have (especially M. Emmett Walsh).

See this movie. There are a lot of worse and more successful movies out there than this one. Quality's very rare these days. So make the most of it.

Unlike others, I did not find this movie, confusing or convoluted at all (Dr. Roberts from Austin needs to go back to med school). The film is paced with an unpredictable feel that catapults the viewer into the desperate situation inside Dino's Tavern. Kevin Spacey's direction is the work of a master, capturing a brief but awesome chase scene with chilling results, and sustaining a panick-driven mood throughout the unfolding story. Dillon is in fine form, as is Gary Sinise, the multi-talented thinking man's actor. The creepy William Fichtner plays such a psycho, you'd think he was born for this role. And, yes, Ms. Dunaway delivers another excellent performance.

Sounds like the nay-sayers don't like psychological thrillers that are intentionally yet methodically paced in such a style that keeps us guessing and on the edge of our seats.

The transition from actor to director is not always as easy as it seems. Sometimes it takes years to make the transition, and that is quite apparent with Kevin Spacey's Albino Alligator. Spacey attempts to hit a homerun on his first at bat but ends up getting a solid single instead.

The film deals with a botched heist (not the sort of story-line that is exactly lacking in Hollywood these days) and the relationships between the three main criminals. What we see is the thin lines between loyalty and survival, and the great lengths some will go to ensure their own preservation, even at the expense of those closest to them.

There are moments in intense drama throughout the film, and a climax that you probably won't see coming, but overall, Albino Alligator reminds me of that glass of water in the middle of the night. It's refreshing, but if you weren't so tired and were able to pour a glass of something else, you would. This is lazy-day-watch-it-on-IFC entertainment, not go-out-of-your-way-to-rent-it entertainment.

"Albino Alligator" is a movie about three thieves that take a few people at a New Orleans bar hostage. The criminals don't really mean any of the hostages any harm, at least not until the police start to wait right outside the bar and the three criminals don't know what to do to get out with freedom still on their side.

"Albino Alligator" is a pretty good movie, especially when you consider that it was the first movie that Kevin Spacey directed. It's not the best movie of its kind, but it's not bad either. It all happens inside a bar in the basement of a building and the plot doesn't change much the whole movie, but it does have a few interesting twists that keep the movie from being boring. All three of the criminals do a great job in the acting department, especially Matt Dillon. The hostages, led by Faye Dunaway, also do a good job of acting. This movie is both chilling and entertaining, and I recommend anybody who likes movies that center around criminals and hostages to get "Albino Alligator."

I bought this DVD purely to hear the feature-length director's commentary by THE MAN himself, Kevin Spacey. I wasn't disappointed. It's like hearing a course on acting, cinematography, and almost every aspect of film-making, plus some amusing stories along the way.

What really surprised me was how good the film turned out to be. I was so engrossed with the drama, that I paused the DVD to turn off (egads!) Mr. Spacey's narration to concentrate on the action. It's that good.

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. And Skeet Ullrich is fine in a small 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.

The movie feels like too much of what it really is... a really low-budget movie with an actor behind the camera for the first time directing other actors from a script that's "not bad, but needs a few more re-writes." Spacey shows he's not a terrible director, but he lacks a sort of feel for "shaping a movie" and it feels like he's just filming actors act.

These actors are all talented and could work with the material, but they all feel out of place. As I said before, the movie really suffers from miscasting.

I don't mean that the wrong actors were cast. I think they found just the right cast, but placed them in all the wrong roles. I think switching some of the roles would've helped immensely.

Having veteran mob actor Joe Mantagna play the leader of the pack, Gary Sinese as the angry police lieutenant outside on his bullhorn giving orders and barking at his troops, keeping Fischter in his "bloodthirsty goon" part and Matt Dillion as the sacrificial lamb. That would have been a big improvement.

When some actors direct, it works. They can even win Oscars for it. But a lot of the time, when actors direct, they have a tendency to just focus on the performances. Just shoot the actors acting.

Sometimes it works... but they need a good showcase for it. An excuse for it.

Hostage situations are all pretty much the same in real life just like coming-of-age stories so it's only natural that movies about them will go from point A to point B as well.

There are a few really great entries into this genre.' Spacey himself appeared in a similar movie about hostage situations: "The Negotiator."

This certainly won't become a cult classic, let alone one of AFI's 100. Still, it does have a few nice moments and personal touches, but in the end, it's instantly forgettable and the kind of movie that would play best on regular TV. It's just not worth going out of your way to see.

I give a 3 out of 10. Better luck next time, Space.

I heard his "Beyond The Sea" was a better effort...

[...]

I was drawn to buy this movie because of it's cast. The movie revolves around three desparate second rate crooks that get themselves in a mess and end up taking a tavern's patrons hostage. Watching this moving in 2005, it seems dated, even though I didn't think it needed to. I remember another movie involving hostage taking; a much older film, called Straw Dogs, yet it did not seem awkward watching it years later. There are a few tense moments and a few surprises along the way, but this film could have been much, much better.

Director Kevin Spacey leads a superb cast who do reasonably well considering the material. Don't get me wrong, the film's idea is a good one. But this script seems more suitable as a play, than a film. Being that most of the film takes place in a one room bar. Faye Dunaway is great, as well as Gary Sinise in a subdued role. But Matt Dillion's tough guy routine seems a little forced, and by the end of the film it's a little tired. However, this is suitable start as Spacey's debut. It's enjoyable too watch, especially if you let yourself sink into it, and try not too deconstruct it's flaws.

Barely a year after rocketing to stardom as an actor, Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey debuts as director with a quirky, tense film about bungling hoodlums holding five hostages in a basement bar in New Orleans

"That would have been a very scary set if you had a director who wasn't an actor's director," said Matt Dillon, who plays the hoodlum leader. "Each week got more and more intense." Dillon plays a morally ambiguous character unsure of what to do after he and his partners set off a burglar alarm, flee in panic, then become mistaken targets of a siege commanded by federal agents seeking a gun-smuggler. Dillon tries to assure his good-hearted brother (Gary Sinise) that the hostages won't be killed, yet is swayed by the pressures of a more vicious partner (William Fichtner).

This film is one of those few films that jump right into the action sequence and engages the viewer almost immediately. And although it is quick to enter into an action sequence, after the first 15 minutes the plot begins to develop somewhat slowly. To view this movie patience is required, since we get an indebt view of each character and get an idea of what drives them in the situation that surrounds them. Magnificent acting on behalf of William Fichtner (hard to believe he was the blind scientist in Contact). Yet, as lengthy as the plot development may be the unveiling is definitely worth the viewing.