#94 – Gator

Movie Mustaches, 

In tribute to the passing of Burt Reynolds yesterday we convinced Bill to pick a Burt Reynolds movie we/he picked GATOR. What we learned is that despite an action packed trailer, classic 70’s movie poster and the presence of young Lauren Hutton… you should just always watch Smokey and the Bandit. 
We were somehow sold by a trailer that just describes who is in the movie and what stunts they will do. 

Anyway. We watched it. So here’s the description. 

Recap!

The feds want to bust Bama Mcall, a gangster from some place. I honestly cant recall if this movie is set in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, or Missisippi. They might have been ambiguous so I’ll just call this vague region “THE SOUTH”.

They decide that the best way to infiltrate his gang is to bring in Gator Mclusky (Burt Reynolds) and they do this by busting him again for moonshinin’ in the Florida Swamps. Which is apparently a reference to the movie ‘White Lightning” because this is a sequel. Who Knew! So… there’s a pretty decent 70’s era boat chase through the swamp, which mostly consists of Gator driving right through the small boats of the state cops over and over again. It is sort of fun and Gator’s Sweet ‘glossy brown’ boat is said to have a jet engine in it (which is never used, a metaphor for this movie. ) They catch gator and he’s pressed into the service of THE FEDS. Jack Weston in a tiny straw hat. 

This is where the movie slows down dramatically. Bama is shown trying to extort money from the owners of a sweaty titty bar in the small town. They don’t budge so he burns the place down in broad daylight. Gator does know Bama and gets into his good graces pretty easily. He isn’t distracted by the array of 70’s era butts parading around him for no reason. He meets local reporter Lauren Hutton. Bama and Gator go together to get protection money from a black bar using the shortest sawed off shotgun ever. They end up blowing up the jukebox to prove a point and they get that money. 

Somewhere around here Gator discovers that Bama is running an opium den for 15-16 year old girls. It’s the slowest/quietest scene ever. He confronts Bama, who has him drugged and driven out of town and then at some point smiley and the really tall guy try to kill him… I was really not paying attention at this point. 

So Gators plan is to break into the courthouse and steal the ‘county debt records’ which are in two giant leather bound books. This is the 70’s equivalent of hacking. He has to do this while holding a cat, because this movie can’t decide if it’s a comedy or drama. Gators people decide to hide out at a beach house. There’s some sort of crazy cat lady and sweaty fed guy “Green Acres” romance brewing, but luckily for us they are both BRUTALLY KILLED when Bama finds the hideout.

This kicks of the final action sequences where Bama has had enough and it going to KICK PUNCH his way out of this. Again, this is a pretty decent sequence where Bama steals a truck from an attractive extra and they jump it around the beach and have a fist fight though a shitty beach carnival set. If I hadn’t had to spend the last hour learning all the tedious details of the plot, it would have been better. Because of her reporting on this story, Lauren Hutton gets a job somewhere north of Baltimore in Cable News or something. She has to tearily say goodbye to Gator as he drives off into the sunset and presumably into the third movie in the Gator-Verse.

It was a spectacular yawn

Bill D

 TLDR: Gator is a Moonshiner working reluctantly for the FEDS. He has to to Bust his old Criminal friend Bama. Who’s is running a protection racket in a small southern town populated by sweaty fat locals, hilariously bad teef and the most attractive female extras that Burt Reynolds could find.  He detectives, smiles, quips and just generally Burt Reynolds’s his way through the case and gets the girl in the end. But chooses to ride off into the sunset without her because she’s moving to NYC to get a job with Kronkite. 

In all it’s a pretty good tribute to Reynolds, he was the director. He was a big enough star at this point to demand that and he had an ego big enough o think he could do it. After looking at the level of “talent” of extras who don’t have ANY BEARING on the plot. It’s clear that good ole’ Burt was doing the ‘Casting’.

Rating. Better to talk about than to actually watch. 

We’ll see if we can get it in next week. I’ll be in Vermont for work. But it might work out. 
-Mark