Alpha Dog

Alpha Dog starts off as what seems like a movie all about a group of friends who life their idea of the American dream: doing drugs, having sex, and hanging out with each other not a care in the world. However, when their leader, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), decides to kidnap the brother (Anton Yelchin) of a man (Ben Foster) who owes him drug money, their perfect world begins to shatter as they realize that their mindless prank has become a situation that could get them stuck in jail for the rest of their lives.

The acting is pretty good considering the cast is mostly young men with little to no experience. First, you have Anton Yelchin, whom the plot centers around. He is the young man trying to grow up, and finds a real sense of comfort in his captors, as weird as it sounds. He does a great job building a likable, yet flawed character. The film definitely displays likable characters, but the audience has to remember that these characters are not good people. Ben Foster has always been around in my eyes, and he delivers his most intense role yet as the scary and sadistic Jake Mazursky. Very good job. Emile Hirsch is steadily developing into a good leading man after nice turns in Lords of Dogtown and The Girl Next Door. He's the leader of the group, and he has a certain presence despite his small size that reminds the viewer who's in command. Sharon Stone continues to defy my expectations of her after watching her in Bobby and this film. Very intense and powerful performance, which is very heartfelt at the end of the film. However, none of these performances stack up close to that of GASP Justin Timberlake. Timberlake really stood out to me in the film as Frankie, Johnny's best friend. He develops a strong friendship with Yelchin's character, and Timberlake really steals the show the whole time. His character is the most believable and likable of the bunch. Bruce Willis and Shawn Hatosy are also good in limited screen time (I don't think I've seen Willis have this much hair in a long time).

Nick Cassavetes does a good job as director, giving us the exact opposite of his most famous work to date, The Notebook. He delivers the gritty and realistic feel of 1999 Southern California and gets great performances out of actors who you don't really expect it from. The film definitely was better than I expected because of Justin Timberlake. I thought he would make the film worse but he made it better. It has some sex scenes and nudity, not to mention a lot of language, so Alpha Dog isn't really appropriate for anyone under 16 or 17. With a good ensemble cast, a good script, good direction, and a heart wrenching climax, Alpha Dog is a good movie to watch.

8/10 --spy

Alpha Dog is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz and related events in 2000. The story revolves around a drug deal gone awry. Jake Mazursky(Ben Foster) didn't pay Johny Truelove(Emile Hirsch) the money he was suppose to. Infuriated, Johny, with the help of his friends, kidnaps Jake Mazursky's brother, 15 year old Zack Mazursky(Anton Yelchin) as some sort of ransom to force Jake to pay him. Johnny's friends eventually become attached to the kid and the boy is actually having the time of his life but in the end something terrible happens... Be aware that Alpha Dog is raw and gritty, after all the film portrays, in part at least, the world of drug dealing, but one can argue that it portrays, as well, how an entire generation in America is in disgrace, some chose to be delinquents but for others, this is all they've known their entire lives and their parents exhibit the same kind of behavior. Cassavetes did a great job telling this story and the cast was exceptional. Ben Foster is truly amazing as the crazy and deranged drug addict Jake Mazursky and Anton Yelchin was perfect as Jake's naive little brother and god damn it, even Justin Timberlake delivered! Towards the end of the movie he plays an emotional scene so well that you can't help but wonder if he didn't chose the wrong career. Emile Hirsch wasn't bad but was definitely out shined by the rest of the cast. The supporting cast is composed by such actors as Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Amber Heard and Olivia Wilde. Overall, Alpha Dog is a well directed and extremely well acted movie that seems to depict in a very truthful way a very unfortunate event. Definitely a good watch!

7.5/10

ALPHA DOG

This was not what I expected. I didn't really know much about this film. I recorded it off of the TV because it said it had Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone in it… little did I know that they had very small parts.

The movie is a drama about a group of 20 something's all running around in gangs, smoking pot, causing trouble and waving guns around. A rival starts up between Johnny Truelove and Jake Mazursky over an unpaid debt… The rivalry really takes a nasty turn when Johnny kidnaps Jakes brother. All of a sudden, this group of guys has a hostage that actually enjoys hanging out with them. This group are completely useless and have no experience in this kind of thing. It all gets out of control.

The story is based on actual events. We all know that this means that there are a few real parts, but the rest has been completely made up. But either way, this film is very well put together. It is a very interesting story. It is a shame that these guys lives were ruined by something so stupid. It felt like this was an on the spot decision that they will regret for the rest of their lives. It is a sad film in places. You grow to actually like a couple of these guys… but you also really hate a couple of them. It is also very annoying when a character who is the leader of a gang is actually gutless. He lies to his gang to make himself look like the big hard leader, but in reality he hides when there is trouble.

The casting was very good. The actors were Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Justin Timberlake, Vincent Kartheiser, Shawn Hatosy, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone. There was not one bad actor in this film. They all did great jobs.

The drama was very gripping in this. You really want this film to have a happy ending, but you don't know what is going to happen until you see it. It keeps you hanging really well.

It is not the best drama I have ever seen, but it is still very good.

I will give this film 7 out of 10.

"Dude, this shirt is f****** cool, Bob Marley is cool, you guys think the kidnapping is cool?"

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It's 1999 in Claremont, California. Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) is a drug dealer and son of a underworld figure Sonny (Bruce Willis). Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) owes Johnny money, and Johnny decide to kidnap Jake's younger brother Zach (Anton Yelchin). It's just fun and games. Everybody treats this as nothing more than a crime in name only. Johnny's friend Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake) keeps Zach captive, and starts partying with him. But in the end, he's still in danger.

This is Nick Cassavetes film based on a real life crime story. It's a good movie. It had the indictment of youth culture, a shocking real story, and some of the hottest of stars. But having Justin Timberlake is way too distracting. It just scream gimmick. His star power overshadows his character. He needs to have more subtlety with his acting if he's to be the lead. Nick really needs a seasoned dramatic young actor in the role.

ALPHA DOG is a film that will resonate with the younger generation as its theme of drugs, rap music and sex can be translated through out the world where a group of teens are angry, ignored and violent. Whether it is the San Fernando valley or the Silicon valley, young men and women with time and money to spend on drink, drugs and sex will find the film is very familiar to their life styles. Sad, but true.

The first two acts of the film the dialog is really crude and filthy, and really becomes tiresome, but in relation to young druggies, this is their way of communicating. As an adult, I found it difficult to have any empathy for the young "Alpha males" except for the brilliant role of Anton Yelchin as Zack. He is so wonderful in his role and captures the innocence of a 15 year old and his final horrifying scenes are ones to remember. And Ben Foster as Zack's brother is sensational in a role that is both powerful and frightening at the same time.

I wish this film were one you could find some redemption for, but I felt none at the end and Sharon Stone is once again terrific in a small, but powerful role as the mother. The young cast is awesome and true to the angry youth of today.