Albino Alligator (1996)

While escaping from a foiled robbery attempt, three thieves find themselves surrounded by police at a New Orleans bar--only they're not the people the police are searching for.

Director:

Kevin Spacey

Writer:

Christian Forte

Stars:

Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway, Gary Sinise

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Dillon	...	Dova
Faye Dunaway	...	Janet Boudreaux
Gary Sinise	...	Milo
William Fichtner	...	Law
Viggo Mortensen	...	Guy Foucard
John Spencer	...	Jack
Skeet Ulrich	...	Danny Boudreaux
Frankie Faison	...	Agent Marv Rose
Melinda McGraw	...	Jenny Ferguson
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Dino
Joe Mantegna	...	A.T.F. Agent G.D. Browning
Doug Spinuzza	...	Agent #1
Spencer Garrett	...	Agent #2
Enrico Colantoni	...	Agent #3
Tulsy Ball	...	A.T.F. Agent

Storyline

Three petty thieves who the police believe to be major criminals are chased into a basement bar where they take five hostages including all the bar employees. The rest of the movie deals with the cops lurking outside the bar while the trio try to get hold of the situation inside.

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Plot Keywords:

bar | police | hostage | animal in title | brother brother relationship | 

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Taglines:

They Planned The Perfect Crime... Until It All Went Perfectly Wrong!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Albiino alligaattori

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$188,050 (USA) (24 January 1997)

Gross:

ITL 41,874,000 (Italy) (6 June 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Albino Alligator Productions, Miramax Films, Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Directing debut of Kevin Spacey.

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Goofs

Because of the city's proximity to sea level, it is difficult, if not impossible to have underground (basement) dwellings in New Orleans.

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Quotes

[In a TV interview]
Jenny Ferguson: Agent Browning, can you shed some light on what's been happening here?
Agent Browning: Well, it looks like some goddamn stupid motherfucker has decided to take some poor innocent fucks hostage. Now we've been out here all fucking night trying to deal with this goddamn situation, but there hasn't been a fucking break yet. But we're sure as shit hopeful that everyone will be safe, and that we bring this motherfucker, or motherfuckers, as the case may be, to fucking justice. How's that?

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Connections

Spoofed in Held Up (1999)

User Reviews

Uneven directorial debut for Spacey

Kevin Spacey is, of course, one of the best actors we have, and he shows talent in his first time out as director in this crime story. Specifically, he does a good job creating a tense atmosphere in such a claustrophobic environment as a bar. And although there's a lot of camera movement, it's not overdone. Also, he's good with his actors, especially Dillon, Dunaway, and Sinise.

But the movie suggests Spacey should learn about reading scripts next time. The movie harks back to films like PETRIFIED FOREST, but is little more than a clone of them, and writer Christian Forte often falls back on obscenities to substitute for character development and plot. And some of the scenes strain credulity, like the ending.