I watched the 1973 movie "White Lightning" and then followed up with the 1976 movie "Gator" here, as I happened to stumble upon two Burt Reynolds movies that I hadn't previously seen. I did enjoy the 1973 movie, so I was looking forward to watching what writers William W. Norton and Roderick Taylor had to offer with the 1976 movie that was directed by Burt Reynolds.
While "Gator" certainly is watchable, it differs from the 1973 movie quite a lot. Whereas the 1973 movie "White Lightning" incorporated comedy, the 1976 movie "Gator" incorporates a more serious and mature aspect, as it deals with some pretty heavy contents, such as drugs and prostitution involving underage girls. That change of pace and contents was definitely no what I was expecting, and certainly not from a Burt Reynolds movie, wherein the previous movie they were setting the stage with mixing crime and comedy.
The movie stars Burt Reynolds, whom carries the movie quite well as the Gator McKlusky character. But it also have the likes of Jack Weston, Lauren Hutton, Alice Ghostley, Dub Taylor and Jerry Reed on the cast list. It was quite odd to see Jerry Reed's character Bama McCall take such a drastic turn of personality in "Gator" in comparison to the "White Lightning" movie.
"Gator" is not a bad movie, it just differed a lot from what I was expecting. And just a heads up, if you do sit down to watch "Gator", don't do so with the intent of being entertained with comedy.
My rating of "Gator" lands on a six out of ten stars.
