Albino Alligator<\/em> is a little-known footnote in the career of the formerly respected Kevin Spacey. Fresh off of winning a Best Supporting Actor for his performance as deceptive hood Roger \u201cVerbal\u201d Kint in The Usual Suspects<\/em> (directed by pal\/fellow alleged sexual assaulter Bryan Singer), Spacey came with his directorial debut, another in a long line of neo-noirs<\/em> that dropped post-Pulp FIction<\/em>. Naturally, Pulp<\/em>\u2019s distributor MIramax picked up the domestic distribution rights for a cool $5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alligator<\/em> is about a trio of criminals \u2013 brothers Dova (Matt Dillon) and Milo (Gary Sinise) and loose cannon Law (William Fichtner) \u2013 who hide out in a New Orleans basement bar (aptly named Dino\u2019s Last Chance) to get away from the cops. They think the fuzz is after them for fleeing a botched holdup. But what they don\u2019t know is that they killed a few agents \u2013 two during a car chase and one they accidentally ran over \u2013 who were working a sting operation to apprehend a wanted gunrunner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, the dive\u2019s remaining inhabitants reluctantly become hostages, including the lippy barmaid (Faye Dunaway), a young pool player (Skeet Ulrich), a barfly (John Spencer), and a mysterious, French-Canadian businessman (Viggo Mortensen, laying on the accent thick). There\u2019s also the bar\u2019s owner (M. Emmet Walsh, RIP<\/a>), who\u2019s unfortunately taken out early when he gets into a shotgun-wielding tussle with Law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Working from a script by first-time screenwriter Christian Forte (the son of \u201850s actor\/singer\/heartthrob Fabian), Alligator<\/em> is a familiar, quietly chaotic bit of real-time pulp featuring some standard-issue crime-movie archetypes. Dillon\u2019s thick-headed leader often has to calm the nerves of Sinise\u2019s pacifistic bro and Fichtner\u2019s proud psychopath. Fichtner\u2019s character also t explains the movie\u2019s title, telling how the titular reptile is often used as a sacrifice by other alligators. Of course, sacrifice becomes an integral part of the finale, as characters end up making wackadoo, life-altering choices in order to bring home the nobody\u2019s-a-hero message. There\u2019s even a cranky, foul-mouthed ATF agent (Joe Mantegna) outside, mostly barking orders and giving exposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spacey filmed Alligator<\/em> in 34 days, with 24 of them shot in the bar. He eventually convinced \u201cthe money people\u201d to expand the budget for sound and music after his Oscar win. \u201cI\u2019m not above using my Oscar for those reasons,\u201d he told<\/a> the San Francisco Examiner<\/em> in 1997. At one point of filming, ten rolls of shot film disappeared from Los Angeles International Airport. (The film was returned after the story was published in the newspaper.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spacey creates stylish shots while also getting convincing performances out of his actors. He occasionally seems to be showing off, giving us superfluous dolly shots like Fichtner bashing Walsh\u2019s head on the bar while the camera pans over to a Humphrey Bogart movie poster. (The poster is a reference to The Petrified Forest<\/em>, a 1936 film where Bogart plays a gangster who holds a restaurant full of people hostage.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Spacey had final cut, Weinstein did try to interfere in the editing process. According to Peter Biskind\u2019s Down and Dirty Pictures<\/em>, Weinstein ordered just-hired exec Alan Sabinson to approach Spacey about trimming Alligator<\/em>. When Sabinson came back to Weinstein telling him it was a no-go, Weinstein lost his shit, shouting, \u201cYou\u2019re a fuckin\u2019 moron, an idiot. What am I paying you for? Get outta my office. I don\u2019t want to see you here, you\u2019re a piece of shit.\u201d Sabinson was fired shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering Alligator<\/em>\u2019s odd theatrical rollout, Weinstein was ready to bury the flick. Originally scheduled for a November 1996 release, it hit several markets the following January and others a few months later in May. The reviews were mixed, with many praising Spacey for trying to spice up a formulaic story. \u201c\u200b\u200bSadly, Spacey\u2019s deft directing can\u2019t offset a script that wants to be Chinatown<\/em> and ends up as indigestible chop suey,\u201d wrote<\/a> then-Rolling Stone<\/em> critic Peter Travers. In the end, the $6 million movie only made $339,379. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from helming the bonkers Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Sea<\/em> in 2004, Spacey spent the rest of his pre-cancelled years in front of the camera, racking up awards including a Best Actor Oscar for American Beauty<\/em> and a Best Actor in a Drama Series Golden Globe for Netflix\u2019s House of Cards<\/em>. Considering how Spacey has gone from acclaimed thespian to despised predator, apparently trying to get back on people\u2019s good graces one horror convention at a time<\/a>, Albino Alligator<\/em> is the least embarrassing thing he\u2019s done in his career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Albino Alligator is currently <\/em>streaming for free on Tubi<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/albino2-1024x576.jpg\")
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Alligator<\/em> mostly finds Spacey proving how economical he could be as a filmmaker. As most of the film takes place inside a bar, he didn\u2019t have to worry about rounding up more locations. \u201cI could go out and find a movie that has 75 locations and give myself a [expletive] logistical headache and never be able to have the kind of prep time at those locations,\u201d he continued<\/a> in the Examiner<\/em>. \u201cI know what that’s like. I\u2019ve been in movies where the director doesn\u2019t get the location until a week before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n