Albino Alligator

Starring: Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway, Gary Sinise, William Fichtner, Viggo Mortensen, Skeet Ulrich
Directed by: Kevin Spacey
Released: Miramax Films, 1996

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey makes his directorial debut with the hit-and-miss Albino Alligator, a film which has its moments of tension and suspense but lacks punch. Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise, and William Fichtner play small-time thieves mistake by police for dangerous criminals, and consequently hole themselves up in a seedy basement bar. The usual back-and-forth between the hostage negotiators and the hostage-takers begins, but none of the actors really sells their performance enough to make things count. The close-quarters feel of Spacey's film does nothing to heighten the audience's feeling of we-are-there, and so ultimately it's just too claustrophobic. Albino Alligator is a good example of intentionally low-key and unfortunately so.