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

Milo: [smoking a mentol cigarette given by Law] Goddamnit! Mentol... I hate mentol.
Law: I know.

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Connections

Spoofed in Held Up (1999)

User Reviews

Okay, the cast is better than the script but it's still a solid hostage drama, and definitely worth watching.

Any hostage drama can't help but get compared to 'Dog Day Afternoon' and will therefore be found lacking, but 'Albino Alligator', while not without a few flaws, does a credible job. Kevin Spacey shows some promise as a director, but the script sometimes let's him down. Even so it's pretty entertaining, and the best thing about it is the outstanding cast. You might think Spacey would call upon his Usual Suspects buddies but instead we have Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise and William Fichtner as criminals on the run, Faye Dunaway, M. Emmett Walsh, Skeet Ulrich, John Spencer and Viggo Mortensen as the occupants of an after hours bar they hold hostage, and Joe Mantegna as the cop on the scene. All the actors performances are good, but I especially enjoyed Fichtner's redneck sociopath and Mortensen's mysterious French Canadian who may not be the average joe he appears to be. Both actors have been favourites of mine for some time. 'Albino Alligator' is no masterpiece, but if you want to see some good actors do their thing I suggest you check it out, you won't be disappointed.