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Fresh and Exciting

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

As Good As It Gets

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Gator, As much as I respect Roger Ebert, I don't care what Ebert says. This is a good film. It is Funny at times, has action, and entertaining for Reynolds directorial debut. Sure there are some mistakes but Reynolds took some chances too, some subtle. Filming the chase scenes on water can prove to be difficult but it came off well.Jerry Reed did a fine and convincing job as a corrupt antagonist without playing up to a false or cheesy southern stereotype. Lauren Hutton also did a fine job as a fresh face in this film without any clumsy or unnecessary over acting.The ending is unexpected and without following movie formula as Ebert claims (See book titled, "I hated, hated, HATED this film"). Reed's song was a big number for him after the release of Gator and Bobby Goldsboro's music was beautiful and perfect for the films heart-breaking end. Pure entertainment.

A two-time loser like Gator McKlusky (Burt Reynolds) will do anything to avoid a third strike and a long prison stint. So when a big city revenuer asks for Gator's help, what choice does he have? Gator's mission is to get the goods on Bama McCall (Jerry Reed), the nasty crime boss of a neighboring county. Gator gets something else he hadn't counted on, however, when he falls for television reporter Aggie Maybank (Lauren Hutton). Can he get the girl and the goon?As is the case with most sequels, Gator is a vastly inferior movie to its predecessor, White Lightning. Everything that made that movie so good and so memorable is missing from Gator. While there are a few good moments like the opening boat chase, the movie doesn't have the same gritty feel to it that characterized White Lightning. Gator trades much of the action of White Lightning for a tired, dull romance between Reynolds and Hutton. Not only isn't it believable (especially if you know the Gator character from the first movie), but the outcome of the relationship is terribly predictable. "Sappy" and Gator McKlusky just shouldn't be used together.But the most offensive part of Gator is Burt Reynolds. In White Lightning, he played it straight. From my review of White Lightning, "One of the coolest things about White Lightning is that it presents Burt Reynolds as an actor at the top of his game. This was a Burt Reynolds who seemed to actually care about the final product and not just yucking it up with his buddies on screen." In Gator, far too often Reynolds reverts to the clown he would become in movies like Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run. That laugh of his just grates on my nerves. There are times in Gator when Reynolds and Reed are on screen together that I swear it's like a test run for Smokey and the Bandit. And it's not surprising to see Hal Needham's name in the credits as Second Unit Director.Overall, Gator is a huge disappointment. I'm being generous with my 3/10 rating.

I'm a huge fan of both Gator and White Lightning, but White Lightning is the much better movie. Granted, Gator has Jerry Reed and Dub Taylor, but White Lightning has Ned Beatty, Bo Hopkins, Diane Ladd, and Shaky Puddin'. The dark, gritty atmosphere cast against Reynolds' frat boy laughter plays well together.Additionally, the human element represented by Skeeter and Ma McClusky keep the movie from becoming a parody of the South and Southerners. White Lightning does what the original Walking Tall does not--put a face on corrupt policies in the South with decent acting and without too much cornpone.I have to admit, the roles played by Burton Gilliam and Bill Engesser in Gator are particularly memorable.

This is the real Burt. The guy I like to see. Tough guy movies don't appeal to me unless they were made before the 80's. Makes me want to go out and get my butt kicked! If you like Deliverance, White Lightning, Longest Yard, even Smokey and the Bandit, then you will like Gator. I wish Jerry Reed would have made more movies when he was in his prime.