Albino Alligator

It's too bad Keyser Soze wasn't the mastermind behind Albino Alligator instead of the actor-turned-director Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects). For the film, despite good performances from its high-powered cast (Faye Dunaway, Gary Sinise, Matt Dillon) could have benefited from some truly twisted criminal intelligence. Spacey takes the basic TV movie-of-the-week hijack premise and does everything he can to impart some life into it, but hey, it's been done a million times already. As the hijackers flail their guns in the air, argue amongst themselves, barter with the police over the telephone, and yell at the hostages, it's almost impossible not to yell out the lines before the actors speak them. Albino Alligator is a modest, decent, coherent directorial debut, but that's not enough to override the moldy storyline. Optional. (L. Russo)