Kingston Arts Pages: Echoing some great thrillers of the thirties and forties, Albino Alligator is a tense, tightly drawn characterization of a group of people caught in an impossible situation. A review by Bob MacKenzie

As an independent journalist, Bob MacKenzie writes articles for a number of print and internet publications. The local and national scope of his articles for the Kingston Net Times, the Kingston Business Journal, and other publications make them of interest to readers not just in Kingston but across North America. This article is reprinted here for your information. All material included in this page is copyright © Bob MacKenzie, 1996. No reproduction for any reason is allowed without prior permission in writing from the author.

The article below was published on the internet in the Kingston Net Times.

Albino Alligator

directed by Kevin Spacey

93 minutes

At just 25 years old, Christian Forte has written a first script that presents strong characterizations of his several characters caught in an impromptu hostage situation. However, while director Kevin Spacey states that he thought the film, Albino Alligator, would give him "the opportunity to do something different" and the press materials suggest that this is a new and innovative film, it is not. Rather, it is highly derivative of a whole genre of films that began in the thirties and all but petered out by the mid-fifties.

We've all seen them, if not at the theatre then on late night television. Usually they starred Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney. The story line is simple. A gang of three or four hoodlums on the lam from the law hijack a house/hotel/resort. There is an hour or so of intense character exposition spurred on by violence or threats of violence. Then the episode ends when the hoodlums surrender or are killed by the law.

Albino Alligator does, however, have some interesting twists thrown in, and the tension is unrelenting, carried by the powerful performances of not just the stars but all the actors. This is a short film that leaves the viewer feeling drained by the time it ends.

Matt Dillon and Faye Dunaway present excellent conflict in their roles as the nominal leaders of their two factions: the captors and their hostages. The strongest characterizations in the film come from William Fichtner as "Law," a cold, sociopathic character with little respect for anything or anyone and Gary Sinise in the stock role of "Milo," the bad guy with a conscience who tries to moderate events to keep the worst from happening.

There was a sense throughout that the film-makers do not quite trust the audience to "get it" and understand what they are trying to do. This is evident in a particularly weak performance by Joe Mantegna, who seems to be there more as a prop, pointing to certain information the director wants us to have rather than representing a living character. Given the obvious echoes in this film, a large movie poster of Humphrey Bogart which is visible through most of the story seems especially to be talking down to the audience.

Over all, this is an interesting film -- worth seeing but probably not destined to become a classic.

Oh, "Albino Alligator?" It's explained in the film, but to explain it here might give away an important plot element.