Albino Alligator (1996)

When a New Orleans robbery turns into a deadly pursuit, three crooks take refuge in a spacious basement bar and hold those inside hostage. The "Dino's" bar invaders are: handsome bad-boy Matt Dillon (as Dova), muscular psychotic William Fichtner (as Law) and quietly wounded Gary Sinise (as Milo). Of those unlucky enough to be in the bar on this eventful night, the biggest parts go to mouthy barmaid Faye Dunaway (as Janet), secretive businessman Viggo Mortensen (as Guy) and cute pool player Skeet Ulrich (as Danny). The drama was written by Christian Forte (son of 1950s "teen" celebrity Fabian) and directed by Kevin Spacey (the highly accomplished actor)...

The term "Albino Alligator" is explained in the story and has some character parallels. This is an enjoyable directorial debut for Mr. Spacey. However, the actors appear to bounce around a lot, and a hidden rifle could have been handled better. Three big "secrets" are revealed - the most important could have been "introduced" along with the opening robbery, for maximum tension; let's anticipate that explosive confrontation. Of the other character relationships, one is a surprise and the other is not; neither adds anything by being held back. Also, the "hero" we're left with at the end would probably be unmasked in real life. But, this is the movies, and the story is engaging.

****** Albino Alligator (9/9/96) Kevin Spacey ~ Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway, William Fichtner, Viggo Mortensen