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.

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.

New York federal agent Irving Greenfield (Jack Weston) is sent to the Georgia swamps to take down Bama McCall (Jerry Reed) who runs the corrupt Dunston county. The main target is Bama's friend Gator McKlusky (Burt Reynolds) who is recently released from prison. Gator is forced to co-operate. When he's infiltrating Bama's organization, he falls for investigative TV reporter Aggie Maybank (Lauren Hutton).

After a wacky boat chase first act, the movie turns into a grinding meandering journey through a dark underworld. The tone change is topped out with a drugged out underage prostitute. Then the movie's tone is changed again with the introduction of Hutton into something wackier. The changing tones and meandering plot combine for a problematic thriller. It also doesn't help that they stayed around even after stealing the books. It's obvious that they need to get out of state and call up the cavalry. Staying at that beach house is simply asking for trouble. The movie does allow for some old fashion stunts and the story is mostly functional.