Alpha Dog

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 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

Maybe I just had to wait too long for this one to finally come out. I have never been a Justin Timberlake fan, but he was one of the best things about this movie. You cannot dislike him in this. He does a good job of showing us the moral dilemma he is twisting in. I always love Emile Hirsch but found this character a little one dimensional. Gone were the moments where you can see everything he thinks and feels on his face as when he portrays Z-boy Jay Adams or as Tim Travis in "Imaginary Heroes." He is supposed to be the heartless bad guy in this and since he is portraying a real person perhaps the flatness of this character is due to an accurate depiction of real life Jesse James Hollywood. What this character lacks in emotion, others, such as "Susan" and "Keith," give us a bit more to watch. Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone are believable most of the time, but some moments feel incongruent (Stones final scene for example was over the top and in such a bad way). Likewise Ben Foster's Jake Mazursky is all over the place as a strung out-stressed out loser that starts the whole mess. He has moments of brilliance but otherwise he's just too much. The movie is way too long and tries to focus on every player in this truly tragic story. I would have liked more of Anton Yelchin's Zach and more of the emotional battles of the key characters and far less of the get high and blast out violent rap while insulting our sex partners in front of the whole gang. The story itself is captivating, but the movie tries too hard to do too much and gets in its own way. Yet I don't feel cheated out of the ticket price.

That last reviewer is nuts. I wasn't even in the mood to see this kind of a film, but I really got into it and enjoyed myself! Yes, there is a lot of cussing, but the movie is rated R, so it's lot as though it came as a surprise. These characters are freaking drug dealing gang members, for crying out loud--what else would one expect? The acting was excellent, with Justin Timberlake surprising me the most. I didn't think I'd be able to take him seriously, but his performance really was the standout of the film. The characters, for the most part, aren't likable, but very realistic and well-played.

The premise, of course, is based on a true story, but in my opinion was very well put-together so that it wasn't dull in any way, shape, or form. To me, it felt like a better-quality, more entertaining version of films like "Bully" and "Havoc".

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes true-crime dramas.

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.