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 ask for gator help and what choice do he have . gator mission be to get the good on bama mccall ( jerry reed ) and the nasty crime bos of a neighboring county . gator get something else he hadn not count on and however and when he fall for television reporter aggie maybank ( lauren hutton ) . can he get the girl and the goon . a be the case with most sequel and gator be a vastly inferior movie to it predecessor and white lightning . everything that make that movie so good and so memorable be miss from gator . while there be a few good moment like the opening boat chase and the movie doesn not have the same gritty feel to it that characterize white lightning . gator trade much of the action of white lightning for a tired and dull romance between reynolds and hutton . not only isn not it believable ( especially if you know the gator character from the first movie ) and but the outcome of the relationship be terribly predictable . sappy and gator mcklusky just shouldn not be use together . but the most offensive part of gator be burt reynolds . in white lightning and he play it straight . from my review of white lightning and one of the cool thing about white lightning be that it present burt reynolds a an actor at the top of his game . this be a burt reynolds who seem to actually care about the final product and not just yucking it up with his buddy on screen . in gator and far too often reynolds reverts to the clown he would become in movie like smokey and the bandit and cannonball run . that laugh of his just grate on my nerve . there be time in gator when reynolds and reed be on screen together that i swear it like a test run for smokey and the bandit . and it not surprising to see hal needham name in the credit a second unit director . overall and gator be a huge disappointment . i be be generous with my negative rating .