USA TODAY

Barely a year after rocketing to stardom as an actor, Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey debuts as director with a quirky, tense film about bungling hoodlums holding five hostages in a basement bar in New Orleans.

Albino Alligator, which premiered Monday at the Toronto Film Festival, was shot in just 24 days, in the exact sequence of the plot. Virtually the entire film takes place in the barroom, creating a claustrophobic effect that adds to the tension.

"That would have been a very scary set if you had a director who wasn't an actor's director," said Matt Dillon, who plays the hoodlum leader. "Each week got more and more intense."

Dillon plays a morally ambiguous character unsure of what to do after he and his partners set off a burglar alarm, flee in panic, then become mistaken targets of a siege commanded by federal agents seeking a gun-smuggler. Dillon tries to assure his good-hearted brother (Gary Sinise) that the hostages won't be killed, yet is swayed by the pressures of a more vicious partner (William Fichtner).

Spacey said he wanted ensemble acting and sought actors with "a certain work ethic."

"We didn't have a lot of time," he said. 'I wanted a company of actors who would join it like a fraternity."

Faye Dunaway plays the barmaid, a working-class woman with a faint Cajun accent whose fears intensify steadily throughout the siege.

"I'm always looking for simpler, softer, more accessible women," Dunaway said. "This movie is about heroism, courage - what you do when the chips are down."

Both Dillon and Dunaway said they, too, would like to try their hand at directing; Spacey said he was eager to try again, next time with more expansive settings.

Spacey, winner of the supporting-actor Oscar for his role as a fast-talking career criminal in The Usual Suspects, is one of a number of well-known actors releasing their directorial debuts in Toronto. Others include Anjelica Huston, Cher, Matthew Broderick, Kevin Bacon and Tom Hanks.

In each case, Spacey said, the actor-directors had taken their time before moving into directing and had opted for serious, idea-oriented films.

"There isn't one that has done it as a vanity production," he said. "I simply wanted to find out if I had the capacity to be a storyteller."

Albino Alligator is scheduled for release in the United States on Nov. 15.

USA TODAY