Customer Reviews

Alpha Dog (Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The movie is based on the true story of the kidnapping of Zack Mazursky (Yelchin) by "drug dealer" Johnny Truelove(Hirsch) and his "posse". The basics is that they kidnap the 15 year-old kid so that his older brother pays up the 1200 dollars he owes Truelove. But the whole plan goes awry and Zack ends up being killed.

In itself the movie isn't that original. It's themes we've already seen a million times : the disenchanted, bored youth who play drug dealers in California. But what makes this different is that it's a true story, and that fact alone turns the movie into a dark, almost horror, story that ends up haunting you and staying with you long after the end credits. This actually ends up saving the movie from itself, not turning it into another one of those horrible laugh-out-loud movies like "Havoc". What helps is also the opening credits, where when you reach the end you end up asking yourself "how did they get from there to here?"

The acting is average. It's not bad but there aren't that many great performances. The breakout star in all of this would probably have to be Justin Timberlake who shows he can act and gives an emotional level to the story, without which the movie would be doomed. I think most of it has to do with the script though, because you seriously have to wonder if they actually talked like that. Sharon Stone is also fairly decent as Zack's mother, that is until the end. Another honorable mention would have to be Ben Foster who just chews up the script.

But as Bruce Willis' character so insightfully points out, this movie is really about parenting...bad parenting at that. It's another movie that shows what happens when the parents don't give a damn and let their kids run all over the place and do whatever they want. But throughout the movie I also really wanted to slap the kids for taking stupidity to a whole new level, which is frightening considering it's based on a true story.
The only other negative point about the movie is that it runs about 15 minutes too long, with Sharon Stone's last scene that fails to inspire compassion and sadness at the whole situation and ends up being just ridiculous.

On the whole it's a decent movie worth seeing once and that won't leave you indifferent.

Johnny Truelove (Hirsch) is pushing weed to local teenagers and everything seems to be fine in his quiet life till his authority is questioned by a fascist jew(!) Mazursky (Foster) who furthermore is not giving Johnny back $1200 he borrowed. Truelove and his friends then kidnap Mazursky's 15-year-old brother Zack (Yelchin) and hold him as a hostage. Zack is OK with being a hostage - parties, booze, weed and girls are definately better than sitting home with wonk parents. Everybody's having a great time, kids fool around and it seems like we observe ordinary teenagers' life, only sometimes captions appear at the sides of the screen calling every new character number next witness. And it makes you feel uneasy. We know the film is based on true events, hence we know something bad will happen, but till the very end I personally refused to believe it actually will.

Alpha Dog is a movie about a crime which was commited not by some malicious intent, but rather by an absolute bluntness and with a total recklessness of the characters involved. These 20-year-olds behave like small kids - having commited something bad they are afraid of upcoming punishment and descend deeper into crime. They don't believe themselves they're capable to do something terrible and they can't stop when it's not yet too late. They are just a bunch of silly kids hence the outcome is utterly disturbing although we saw it coming.

Alpha Dog is a remarkable film, but to tell the truth - it's overshadowed by such works as The Chumscrubber or Bully. Nick Cassavetes did a great job, but still Larry Clark's movies, for instance, have a greater impact on you. Alpha Dog's impact is based more on the fact that all the ivents shown here really happened some time ago. And I'm sure they still take place in different corners of our world. So it's another flick for you if you want to know what modern youth is. It won't leave you indifferent for sure.

I stumbled across Alpha Dog the other night on cable and found myself wrapped up in the true life teen gangster story along the lines of Larry Clark's Bully, although lighter and funnier. Dog is filled with young acting talent reminiscent of The Outsiders - The Complete Novel (Two-Disc Special Edition) combined with strong seasoned performances by Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis, and Harry Dean Stanton.

Dog, directed by Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook (New Line Platinum Series)), who also played bad guy Packard Walsh in the so bad it's good 80's movie The Wraith. Amazon already does an informative write up, which talks about Cassavetes own run in with the law for his contact with the real life character behind Johnny Truelove, still on the F.B.I's ten most wanted list at the time of the film. I found that interesting. Although I disagree with their interpretation of Foster's character Jake, which I'll address.

The story, based on actual events, follows a group of suburban kids who watch music videos, act tough, drink 40's, smoke cheeba, disrespect people, and talk shiite. The leader of this crew is Johnny Truelove played by Emile Hirsch, who seems to get better with every role, and gives his best performance a year later in Into the Wild. Johnny is a smooth manipulator but gets most of his respect from his family ties, also surrounding himself with idiots doesn't hurt.

In this movie of solid performances it is Ben Foster's Jake Mazursky that steals the spotlight, as he did in similar fashion from Russel Crowe and Christian Bale in the western 3:10 to Yuma (Widescreen Edition) with his portrayal of Charlie Prince. Amazon describes Foster's character Jake as a scum bag drug addict. I disagree. There is no doubt he has a drug problem, and problems in general, but in a time when most just talk trash, Jake actually follows through. In some aspects I saw him as a stand up guy, or would be without drugs, and has a fearlessness that other men can respect, under different circumstances he could have been a leader. Ben Foster does a great job showing rage in this part with words or without. Justin Timberlake also gives a good performance as the mostly obnoxious, with hints of charisma, Frankie Ballenbacher.

The basic plot is Jake owes Johnny Truelove money. Johnny tries to disrespect Jake like he does with his other friends, but Jake isn't his other friends, and it continues to escalate from there. The crew decide to teach Jake a lesson and kidnap his younger brother, whom Jake is close with. This sets a chain of events sometimes fun and entertaining but ultimately tragic.

ALPHA DOG is a strong film that reminded me of a film called BULLY that was similar, but not given much publicity. ALPHA DOG seemed to me to be a more commercial film that got more publicity and had big stars like Bruce Willis & Sharon Stone giving it clout.

That isn't a bad thing. ALPHA DOG is a frightening film based on a true story and its greatest gift is its closeness to reality and how kids go through life thinking with blinders on. They don't see the big picture. They don't realize the consequences of their actions from minute to minute. Everything we do has an effect and repercussions. Teenagers have an aura of invincibility. In the case of ALPHA DOG, we get to see those aura's exposed.

The only thing that I was disappointed with was the absence of Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) from the end of the film. He was probably the most interesting character in the film. He walks through the movie with an unabashed intensity that explodes at will. After he walks into a party looking for his missing brother and ends up introducing a slew of party goers to his black belt, he is pretty much gone from the film.

Although I do realize that the movie was based on a true story, so inserting him in the end would have taken away from the truth.

Fortunately though, this movie is given its life by Nick Cassavetes' screenplay and direction, a solid young cast (including a solid performance by Justin Timberlake) and a solid veteran cast.

Alpha Dog is a really good film and a lesson in life and its undeniable consequences. Not to mention, should be a wakeup call to all parents who don't know where there kids are at night and the things they could be getting into.

Recently our cinemas have been packed with high concept "product" that caters to the lowest common denominator of entertainment and to the least discriminating film goer. What this says about our culture is distrubing at best. How thrilled I was then to see Nick Cassavetes brilliant "Alpha Dog." It must have taken guts to make a film this bold and unrelentling. From the opening credits with the late Eva Cassidy's haunting rendition of "Over The Rainbow" to the final denouement I was entertained, laughed, cried and moved beyond imagining. Justin Timberlake was very good as was Anton Yelchin. Ben Foster looked like he was living the part of the drug addled Jake. Robert Fraisse's cinematography was stunning as well. Southern California's sun drenched decadence gleamed like a jewel unable to concel the rot at it's core. This is a movie people will love or hate. All the best ones are like that. Nick Cassavetes is taking an interesting path in his work and I'm looking forward to what he has in store for us next.

ALPHA DOG, a disturbing film based on actual events, aptly illustrates the fact truth is stranger than fiction. A novelist would never be able to make a story like this up--or make it come across as plausible or believable. So because the film is based on a kidnapping/murder that actually occurred, writer/director Nick Cassavetes lets this riveting story play itself out--and fully incorporate a very real human component in the process.

Interspersed with mock-documentary interviews, ALPHA DOG depicts out-of-control teens, punks, hoodlums, and lousy parents. Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), a two-bit drug dealer, has a problem: one of his customers, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), is a deadbeat addict who simply can't, or won't, pay for the dope he's been getting from Johnny. And the more Johnny presses for cash, the more Jake pushes back, until there is nothing but animosity and hatred between them. Opportunity arrives when Johnny stumbles across 15-year-old Zack (Anton Yelchin), Jake's half-brother, and kidnaps him. The message to Jake is clear: pay for the dope. . .or else. Ironically, Zack is completely enjoying his "captivity", as Johnny's pal Frankie (Justin Timberlake) has been assigned to show Zack the ropes, and show him a good time while he's at it. Free from a smothering, overbearing mother (Sharon Stone), Zack is in a hog heaven of his own.

Yet destiny intervenes. The captors learn they have some serious prison time awaiting them for what they have done; suddenly the urge to "off" their captive becomes a viable alternative. And at this point, the situation begins spinning out of control, as Johnny, Frankie, and their entourage are in over their heads, with very tragic consequences. The inevitable is very disturbing and painful to watch, but it is also riveting and acutely compelling.

Everything about ALPHA DOG is riveting, from direction to dialogue (which is very realistic). The large cast excels; Justin Timberlake is surprisingly good; Ben Foster aggressively soaks up the oxygen in every scene he's in (he's over the top in a very believable way). Veterans Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton, and Sharon Stone appear in supporting roles--Stone (in a fat suit and virtually unrecognizable) particularly memorable as the subject of the mock interviews. ALPHA DOG is all too tragic, all too human. . .all too real.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

The worst part of this movie is that it's a true story. The best part is the character development.

Based on the true Jesse James Hollywood story, writer/director Nick Cassavetes' "Alpha Dog" is at least as good as most true crime books in convincingly portraying the triggers that led to the central crime and recreating the atmosphere surrounding events.
In this case, the crime is the real-life spontaneous kidnapping of a 15-year-old boy over a drug debt, which spirals further out of control, with ruinous consequences for most of those involved.
Justin Timberlake, playing Franki, Anton Yelchin, as Zack, and Shawn Hatosy, as Elvis, give the movie's strongest performances. For those who are critical of Sharon Stone because they find her implausible, there are such mothers out there, and they carry some of the responsibility for their children's failures, and that's the point.
As a published true crime author, I found "Alpha Dog" extremely successful in blaming horrible parenting and in showing how many people can witness a tragedy in progress without attempting to do anything to stop it. These are facts of real life that happen repeatedly in real life crimes.
The twist in "Alpha Dog" is that when someone actually does half-heartedly try to get help, the parents decline to give it. This left me wondering if anyone would have actually helped in other cases where teens have been criticised for failing to do anything to stop a heinous crime.
Like many movies, "Alpha Dog" makes rampant drug use, alcohol abuse and sex for its own sake look like fun. It would be nice to see more movies evoke the less pleasant consequences of these choices. It would be nice to see these choices romanticized less often, or at least shown more realistically.
The movie is heavy-handed in places and not all of the acting is especially good but it succeeds in portraying a completely pointless crime and all of the listless, directionless, undisciplined, blind lives surrounding it.
"Alpha Dog" is heavy on drug use, profanity, violence, sex and nudity -- but, then again, so were the real life events on which it is based.
Once again, it seems that some reviewers slam the movie because they are offended by what it portrays. What it portrays is offensive, no question -- but that's the point. If you don't want to know about the ugliness that sets people up to get more easily sucked into murder than they would have ever predicted, then don't watch this movie or others from the genre.

Surprisingly good take on the true story of Jesse James Hollywood's antics as a suburban drug dealer and his kidnapping a business colleague's younger brother to settle a debt. The names are changed but the story is very accurate. So accurate that the DA was removed from the case because he served as a consultant on the film and apparently leaked several unauthorized documents to director Nick Cassavettes.

The performances alone make this one worth watching. Very strong turn-outs by Emille Hirsch as Johnny Truelove (Hollywood), Justin Timberlake as his loyal and good natured friend, but it's Ben Foster who nearly steals this entire film from everyone. One drawback to the film is that we never have any closure with Foster's character after everything goes down. I think the reason for this is because it is a true story. Another director may have taken a more commercial approach and given Foster a final scene to chew but Cassavettes holds true to the story and instead focuses on the wasted youth and the culture they live. It makes for a compelling argument that we parents who work hard to provide for our children must not forget the moral compass that must be taught as well.

"Alpha Dog" is not as bad as I was expecting it to be. Written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, son of Indie maverick director John and actress Gena Rowlands, this film works on some levels and not on others. This seems to be par for the course for this director, who has had mixed success with his films. Best as a visual reenactment of the events surrounding the crime, "Dog" tells a shocking story.

The Inland Empire. 1999.

Johnny (Emile Hirsch) is a young hoodlum who runs a drug empire, selling the contraband his dad, Sonny (Bruce Willis) provides. Johnny is building a little empire of his own; owns his own home, has a posse of `friends' who hang around, party and get high, enforces his debts with the use of junior hit men, has a bunch of loose girls hanging around, the like. Dad and Grandpa (Harry Dean Stanton) treat Johnny like the adult he is, prodding him to "get some tail" and to forget about his steady girlfriend. Life is too short. One evening, Jake (Ben Foster) arrives, strung out, to talk to Johnny. He is unable to collect a debt owed to Johnny and now Johnny holds him responsible. Jake becomes angry and threatens Johnny. The next day, Johnny threatens Jake's job by calling his boss and telling him about Jake's drug use and the violence escalates. Later, Johnny and his crew, including Franki Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake) and Tiko Martinez (Fernando Vargas) are driving around and spot Jake's younger brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin) walking around. They snatch him and decide to use him as a hostage, until his older brother forks over the money. But Zack actually enjoys the company of the older guys and goes along willingly and also enjoys the local notoriety of being a hostage. But Johnny doesn't have anywhere to hold Zack and they make the circuit of all of their friends, paying them off in weed and/ or attention. When Olivia (Sharon Stone) hears Zack, her son, has been kidnapped, she becomes distraught. When she learns Jake, her step-son may be responsible, she goes ballistic.

"Alpha Dog" is set-up as a faux documentary. The film opens with an off-camera interviewer questioning Sonny (Willis) about his son and we quickly learn the real reason behind the events of this tragedy; no parental supervision. As Sonny speaks, we quickly realize he should have been given an involuntary vasectomy. As the story progresses, the various days and times appear onscreen, to help us navigate the events. Also, as new people enter the story, we see their name, and in some cases "Witness #1". As the number of characters increases, so does the number of witnesses. If this film presents a fairly accurate depiction of the events surrounding this story, the number of people who participated in the abduction, or saw Zack, or could've helped by calling the police is simply staggering. But considering the fact most of the people are young, frequently high or drunk, and have little supervision and too much money, it is, well... still simply staggering.

Emile Hirsch plays Johnny and he does a good job of showing the character's toughness, bravado and a need to maintain a certain image. He isn't as tough as he looks and uses his posse of friends to make him appear more formidable. Even among his friends, he is more talk than anything else. But he has been exposed to too much easy money and too little supervision, so he runs a bit wild. Naturally, kidnapping the younger kid seems like a perfectly natural solution to his problem; he needs to get Jake to pay him the money he owes; most importantly, to maintain his image, but also because it is a lot of money. Jake is a psycho, so he comes up with what seems like the only plausible solution.

Justin Timberlake plays Frankie, Johnny's good friend. Initially, he goes along with the idea, more out of novelty, but as the situation starts to turn dark, he becomes less interested in helping out.

Shawn Hatosy pays Elvis, one of Johnny's friends, who also owes him some money. Unable to pay him back, Johnny has him perform housekeeping and other chores in his house, in front of their other friends, as a way to demean them. Later, he takes on a job for Johnny, clearly meant to erase his outstanding debt. This is one of the more interesting characters in the story; throughout Johnny and his friends demean Elvis, slinging insults at him, yet he sticks around, so desperate for their `friendship'. When he ultimately agrees to do something for Johnny, it makes sense. His soul is that empty and he is that hungry for attention.

Bruce Willis does a good job of portraying one of the worst parents ever to appear in a film. From his first comments, at the opening of the film, we quickly realize this is not a man we would ever want around our kids. He and Stanton make a good team, quickly illustrating the reason Johnny has turned out as screwed up as he is.

Anton Yelchin is also good as Zack, Jake's younger brother. He feels smothered by his mother, so he actually thrives on being around a group of kids his older brother's age. When they learn who he is, and why he is hanging around, he becomes a sort of mini celebrity. People who are older and probably deemed `cooler' suddenly want to hang around him. It also makes him catnip to a couple of older girls, who clearly are attracted to the young celebrity.

If all of the performances were of this caliber, the film would be a lot better. But then we have Sharon Stone and Ben Foster, both of whom do some serious scenery chewing. Ben Foster plays Jake, the strung out step-son of Olivia, played by Sharon Stone. Foster plays the role broad, very broad. Michael Caine once said if you play drunk, it will look like you are playing 'drunk'. His words are very true, because whenever he plays a drunken character, he seems like a real person who has just had too much to drink. His actions seem authentic. When an inexperienced actor plays drunk, they toddle around; slur their words, bump into things and act like a drunken cartoon character. Foster could've benefited from following Caine's advice. From the moment he first appears on screen, he looks and acts like a "strung out drug dealer". He plays the role way over the top. Even when he is at work, he is clearly strung out. When Johnny calls his boss to inform on Jake, we are amazed that his boss didn't pick up on it before he received a confidential call. Sharon Stone plays Zack's mother and clearly dotes on her son, perhaps because she is thankful he didn't turn out like Jake. Before he is even kidnapped, she is way over the top, almost to the point where she might start cutting up her son's food and feeding it to him. Zack rebels by hanging out with Jake and his drunken girlfriend, smoking, hiding a bong in his room. When he is kidnapped, she is naturally distraught, but she almost starts flailing about, her arms waving wildly. These are not subtle performances and bring the rest of the film down.

Throughout the film, various kids go to their parents, looking to talk about the situation, looking for advice, trying to get some help, but they don't get far. One kid knocks on her mother's door, interrupting her having sex with her husband on their anniversary. "Mom, can I talk to you for a moment?" "I just asked for one night to make love to my husband, one f***ing night of the year" before she slams the door. This is not the only time something like this happens and it only serves to slam the message home; these people need to get some counseling on how to behave like human beings.

This is not a film for immature teenagers to see, despite the appearance of Justin Timberlake, which will, no doubt, draw a lot of teenagers to the box office. There is a lot of material that would be unsuitable for many ages and maturity levels; drug use, nudity, swearing, treatment, violence and more.

"Alpha Dog" works best as a sort of chronicle of this event, showing the who, what, why and where of the situation. The performances are mixed to adequate, and serve the story, but the two over the top performances by Stone and Foster bring the film down a couple of notches.