Gator . Weekly Alibi . 06-06-97

Gator

DIRECTED BY: Burt Reynolds

REVIEWED: 06-06-97

Y'know, Burt Reynolds used to make some cool movies, and this one (Burt's directorial debut) is pretty damn cool. Burt plays moonshiner Gator McKlusky in this sequel to White Lightning (one of his best), who is more or less blackmailed by federal agents into going undercover down in Dunston County to get the dirt on crimelord Bama McCall (Jerry Reed, in a terrific performance). Bama readily hires old pal Gator as a bagman and leg-breaker, but Gator is repulsed once he sees the kinda crap Bama's up to. Lauren Hutton plays a TV reporter who teams up with Burt to bring Bama down. This flick has a weird atmosphere--it was kind of the last gasp of the gritty, serious Burt Reynolds movie (until much later in his career), and it tends to spill over into the goofier Burt of the late '70s and the '80s. It's a little disturbing to see Burt yokking it up one minute, then see someone taking a load of buckshot in the gut the next. The movie also ladles the sappy romantic stuff on a little thick, but it's still fine entertainment. (MGM/UA Home Video)

--Scott Phillips

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