Albino Alligator (1996)

44% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
42% of users liked it
(5,277 ratings)

Actor Kevin Spacey made his directorial debut with this thriller. Dova (Matt Dillon), Milo (Gary Sinise), and Law (William Fichtner) are three small-time crooks on the run after a botched robbery of a New Orleans warehouse led to a car chase, causing the death of two cops. Needing a place to hide,… More Actor Kevin Spacey made his directorial debut with this thriller. Dova (Matt Dillon), Milo (Gary Sinise), and Law (William Fichtner) are three small-time crooks on the run after a botched robbery of a New Orleans warehouse led to a car chase, causing the death of two cops. Needing a place to hide, with Milo seriously injured, they sneak into Dino's Last Chance Bar, a shot-and-a-beer joint located on a side street in a basement. Before long, the bar is surrounded by a squadron of Federal agents and SWAT officers. The three robbers are convinced that the cops are trying to flush them out, but it turns out that they aren't the only crooks in search of a cold beer at Dino's. Smart-suited Guy (Viggo Mortensen) is actually an international dealer in illegal arms that the cops were trailing when they stumbled across the robbery gone wrong. As police negotiator Browning (Joe Mantegna) tries to get the bad guys to come out peacefully, the bar's patrons -- pool shooting Danny (Skeet Ulrich), aging beauty Janet (Faye Dunaway), and boozehound Jack (John Spencer) -- beg for mercy as Dova hatches a scheme that involves killing Guy and all the patrons. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Kevin Spacey
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Oct 10, 1996 Wide
On DVD: Sep 7, 1999
Studio: Miramax

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
This preposterously plotted, ineptly helmed film features the emabrrassing directing debut of actor Kevin Spacey, wasting the talents of Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise, Viggo Mortensen, Joe Mantegna, Faye Dunaway, and others.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Sleek, efficient thriller.
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
Above average thriller with solid cast, but thinks it's more clever than it is.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Christian Forte's script is top-notch.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Melvin W

Law: Albo gator... sacrifice for a gain. "Deliberate sacrifice for deliberate gain." Everything about Albino Alligator seemed intriguing on paper. It's got a formidable cast with Dillon, Sinise, Fichtner, and Dunaway. It has Kevin Spacey as the director, and despite… More
Law: Albo gator... sacrifice for a gain. "Deliberate sacrifice for deliberate gain." Everything about Albino Alligator seemed intriguing on paper. It's got a formidable cast with Dillon, Sinise, Fichtner, and Dunaway. It has Kevin Spacey as the director, and despite having a story that's been done a million times, the story always seems like a good idea. So I was sort of surprised to see such distain across the board for the film. Still, everything was too intriguing to pass up, and I'm happy that I at least gave the movie a shot because in the end, I didn't hate it. Now Albino Alligator is nothing special. I just want to get that out there right now. If you never see it, it wouldn't be a big deal. The story is something you've seen before and will see again. It is the international robbery story, where a group of criminals robbery is botched and they are left cornered with hostages, and the police outside. So how are they going to get away? That's the whole movie. The criminals are cornered in a basement bar, and must come up with a way to get out of there with their freedom and with their lives. To me, it isn't surprising at all the Spacey directed this. Look at a lot of films that he has starred in. In many of them, there's a lot of dialogue and free range among the actors. So it isn't surprising at all, that this film is mostly dialogue, where the actors are given a lot of free reign. The only problem with that is that the actors aren't on top form. I like Fichtner and Sinise, but neither was that good. I did enjoy Dillon's performance though. I think he did a pretty good job overall. The sad thing comes in that Albino Alligator should have been better. It's too predictable to be considered better than average. You can see the plot development with Mortensen's character coming the moment you lay eyes on him. As for the actual outcome, I liked the idea, but not so much the execution. So this is a slightly disappointing movie just because of all the talent that is involved and because it could have been so much more. But I got a certain amount of enjoyment out of it. While it may not be exceptional filmmaking, it's interesting filmmaking, and sometimes interesting is all you need.
Jason O

Pleasant surprise. I'd never heard of this one, but the catchy title caught my eye, so I watched it and was soon recommending it to others, whom also liked it in return. "Albino Alligator" is a movie about three thieves that take a few people at a New Orleans bar… More
Pleasant surprise. I'd never heard of this one, but the catchy title caught my eye, so I watched it and was soon recommending it to others, whom also liked it in return. "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." NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001.
Film C

Its a good movie and watchable obviously a low budget film which i surprising because of the cost but its good funny and not to bad of a storyline!
Michael G

I saw this once when it first came out and I remember not caring at all. Claustrophobic and dull.
jay n

interesting chamber piece with quality performances
Morgan S

Viggo Mortenson is sooo wierd looking in this movie! pretty good i thought
Jeffrey M

An impressive directorial debut for Kevin Spacey, who was able to effectively use the confined parameters of the story (most of it taking place in one location) to create a tense thriller. Strong cast as well, especially Matt Dillon. Though ultimately an unrealistic plot, the script… More
An impressive directorial debut for Kevin Spacey, who was able to effectively use the confined parameters of the story (most of it taking place in one location) to create a tense thriller. Strong cast as well, especially Matt Dillon. Though ultimately an unrealistic plot, the script has enough twists and interesting dialogue to keep the film moving along at a good pace.
Remi L

Only watched it because of William Fichtner. And he was awesome.
Audrey L

I saw this film years ago and was very impressed with the story line and the acting.Last night I caught it again and was wondering how I could have forgotten to add it to my ever growing list.
Christopher B

It's funny how many filmed plays I've seen at TIFF. It's not like I'm a huge fan of the chamber piece, but apparently something about them draws me in. Went and saw this because Spacey directed it (back when he was coolio) and left satiated.