Alpha Dog (2006) User Reviews

A Great Film.

[ajbo · 8/10 · 14 January 2007]

Having learned about the "Jesse James Hollywood" case during my junior year in high school, I'll admit that I was actually extremely disappointed to find out that a film was being made depicting the events that had happened. However, I can now say, I think differently.

The basic premise, without giving too much away, involves a drug deal gone awry. Someone isn't paying Johnny Truelove, and that someone, just so happens to have a little brother. A naive, fifteen year old, little brother (played powerfully by Anton Yelchin) who just wants to live his life. The boy is kidnapped, and held as a sort of ransom, until Jonny gets his money from boy's brother. Johnny's friends become attached to the boy, and eventually, the boy learns a life lesson.

It may all sound played out and done before, but this film is electrifying in every sense of the word. It's hardcore. It's raw. It's at times gritty. (I felt some vibes from the Larry Clark film "Bully", with the whole "kids-doing-what-they-want-anytime-anywhere thing"). You feel as though you're watching these people's lives just crumble before them, making it all the more worse is the grim reality that's stuck in the back of your mind, reminding you that this is all true. Nick Cassavetes has created such a true-to-life depiction of what happened, that it's almost frightening. You won't want to look away.

There are a few downsides however, one being the running time, either the movie was too dragged out or was just moving too slow. To me, I felt as though it could have ended fifteen minutes earlier. There's also a lot of partying, however, this being a depiction of a real life set of teenagers' lives, I can see why it was so vital towards the film. These kids have parents who do as much as they do. The parents don't care what happens to these kids, which makes it all the more terrifying. These kids are on their own. They have nowhere to run and no one to turn to for help.

With an all-star cast, and top performances all around (not a fan of Justin Timberlake? You will be after this film. Trust me) this film is one not to be missed. The ending is so shocking, that it's a wonder I didn't expect it early on. 'Alpha Dog' is an emotional roller coaster that will have you glued to the screen right from the emotional opening credits.

Powerful and realistic. Well done by Cassavetes and Timberlake.

[The_Amazing_Spy_Rises · 8/10 · 19 July 2007]

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

underrated morality tale taken from today's headlines

[Buddy-51 · 7/10 · 19 May 2007]

Although many of the actual names and locations have been changed for the movie, Nick Cassavetes' "Alpha Dog" tells the largely fact-based story of a particularly heinous homicide that took place in Southern California in the summer of 2000 (changed to the fall of 1999 for the film). The crime involved a group of young drug dealers who kidnapped, then eventually murdered, the 15-year-old brother of a fellow drug dealer who owed the ringleader money and who, largely out of stubbornness and pride, refused to pay up the debt. After the discovery of the body, most of the perpetrators were convicted and sent to prison, but the mastermind, Jesse James Hollywood (called Johnny Truelove in the movie), managed to flee to South America where, in 2005, he was eventually arrested and sent back to the States to face trial on the charge of murder-in-the-first-degree.

"Alpha Dog" provides a grim, depressing look at the dark underbelly of American society where amoral, disenfranchised and disaffected youth play life-and-death games with drugs and guns, often with tragic consequences. In the case of this story, what begins almost as a spontaneous lark suddenly turns into deadly serious business as events begin to spiral further and further out of control as the story races ever more rapidly to its pre-ordained and inexorably tragic conclusion. Cassavetes has written a tight script that captures the fast-paced, drug-soaked milieu in which these young people do their "business." Yet, even though a number of the boys display a callous disregard for life, there are others who see the wrongness of what they are doing but who, through fear or misplaced loyalty or simply a belief that things "would never really go that far," fail to put the brakes on the whole sordid affair before it is too late. It is in that context that Truelove relinquishes his role as the main focal point of the film in favor of Frankie Ballenbacher, a cheerfully sardonic wise guy whose job it is to watch over the boy while Johnny figures out what next to do with him. As Frankie becomes more and more attached to the kid, it becomes harder and harder for him to comply with Johnny's ultimate order of liquidating him. Frankie, thus, becomes the emotional buy-in point for the audience, even more so than the kidnapped boy himself.

There are fine performances by Emile Hirsch, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Foster ("Six Feet Under"), Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton and Sharon Stone, among others, but it is Justin Timberlake, as the high-strung but basically goodhearted Frankie, who walks off with the film. In his every moment on screen, the charismatic Timberlake brings an intensity, shrewdness and liveliness to his performance that bodes well for his future career in movies.

In his direction, Cassavetes generates a starkness of vision and moodiness of tone that are greatly enhanced by the brooding, darkly-lit camera-work of French cinematographer Robert Fraisse.

The movie has a few weaknesses. The faux-interview scenes, which Cassavetes periodically interjects into the film, don't do much to enhance the storyline and succeed only in confusing the audience and interrupting the action. Moreover, the ending comes upon us much too abruptly, depriving us of a sense of completion and catharsis, particularly in regards to Frankie's apprehension and feelings of remorse over what he did, as well as the older brother's reaction to the discovery of his sibling's body. And there are sporadic rare moments, mainly in the early part of the film, where one gets the sense that the cast members are "playacting" rather than truly inhabiting their parts. But these impressions are few and very fleeting and, for the most part, the actors do an admirable job of conveying the down-and-dirty reality of the life they are portraying.

"Alpha Dog" turns the spotlight on a subset of society we may not want to admit is there but which nonetheless exerts a tremendous negative influence on all our lives. The film serves as an alarm signal and a wakeup call that we ignore at our own peril.

Powerful and sad!

[richieandsam · 7/10 · 24 October 2013]

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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Wish I knew this was a true story when I watched it

[bgaiv · 6/10 · 21 November 2021]

I seriously thought this was some Tarantino-esque romp. There are so many things that are surreal, such as the highly recognizable Vazquez Rocks with a windmill farm unconvincingly matted in and the continual count of witnesses displayed onscreen that goes well into double digits.

Likewise, the presence of Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton and Justin Timberlake together is inherently surreal.

And the movie is FUN. The mood is electric and everybody gives fantastic performances, including and especially Timberlake.

But it being based (apparently rather faithfully) on a true story makes the whole thing rather uncomfortable. Should a movie about the murder of a teenager be this much fun?

"A slice of Valley life that went wrong...real wrong..."

[screenwriter-14 · 7/10 · 13 January 2007]

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.

Good...disturbing.

[terilynnbrown · 9/10 · 13 January 2007]

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.

need more gritty action

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 20 September 2013]

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.

Surprisingly good

[PhoenixRising1980 · 9/10 · 5 February 2006]

I got a chance to see a screening of this at Sundance.

This movie sucks you in, seduces you, entrances you, then whacks you over the head with a baseball bat.

It starts off fairly annoying... bunch of pimply-faced white wanna-be's spouting rapid fire ghetto speak with rap music blaring in the background. Eminem would be proud. I thought to myself, "oh no, here we go to one dimensional city...".

But after a while these characters became very likable. These are REAL characters, living a really dangerous life style. The effect is similar in Goodfellas... they're so bad, so annoying, but fascinating, and free in ways ordinary people aren't. They do what they want, when they want and give you a bloody nose if you try and stop them.

There's a mood, an energy, a style that Cassavettes was able to capture and portray that made this film so far removed from any clichéd studio product geared toward teenyboppers. The film feels honest and genuine, and that's the difference.

At a certain point, after all the partying, and boozing and drugging, the film takes a turn for the worse and climaxes into a gut wrenching, horrible tragedy that left me (and the audience) stunned.

Overall it's an extremely well crafted film, definitely worth seeing.

And I almost forgot to mention the biggest surprise of all... Justin Timberlake. Forget what you know, forget N'SYNC, this guy is a real actor. I almost feel strange saying this, but it's true... He was stunning, almost stole the movie; crackled whenever he was on screen. He has all the right ingredients for a stellar acting career; charisma, screen presence, that separates him from the pretty faced phonies clogging the movie screens. Every moment he was on screen he was doing something that worked, and he makes it look easy, the most important trait a great actor has. I'll definitely be watching his acting career very closely from now on.

Cassavetes should have stayed on task.

[kc1177 · 6/10 · 14 January 2007]

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.

An excellent movie about misguided youth

[starlit-sky · 8/10 · 15 January 2007]

When I saw the rating of this movie on IMDb.com, I couldn't believe my eyes. This movie definitely deserves a much better rating (around 7 would be the appropriate rating). This is a story about spoiled, misguided teenagers who do nothing but smoke pot, drink and party. Understandably, all of the teenager characters act in accordance with this care-free life style. So, you should expect this sort of behavior from them (a lot of cursing, violence, sex, drug usage, etc.). I think the director did a terrific job of portraying the setting for this type of life style.

There are two rival parties of youngsters and one guy, Jake Mazursky, owes some money to another guy, Johnny Truelove. Jake is a typical unruly teenager but his younger brother Zack is a nice kid who seems to have a brighter future than his older brother. But when Jake refuses to pay off his debt to Johnny Truelove, they kidnap his younger brother Zack as a hostage. Surprisingly, Zack develops a nice rapport with his kidnappers; being a nice kid, he easily connects even with the unruly kind. He doesn't even seem to be willing to escape from his kidnappers.

This is an excellent film showing the extend of damage that can be caused by the misguided youngsters. They live in a world where even the most stupid acts can be accepted as being "cool" or "desirable". Too much pot smoking and drugs, not enough oxygen in the brain cells. Are these kids really that stupid or are they stupefied by all the drugs they take? I think this is a movie all parents should watch and they should watch it really carefully before things are too late.

Cassavetes came close...

[jpschapira · 6/10 · 27 February 2007]

I told my dad he wouldn't enjoy this film; it basically has young kids screaming at each other and cursing all the time. That's not a nice thing for a parent to watch, that's not a nice thing for anyone to watch actually, but the thing is the characters are my age. The parties they organize are not a lot different from the ones I go to; sometimes everything stays in control but other times it gets out of our hands.

When we first see a frame in "Alpha Dog" it's Bruce Willis sitting on a chair, being irreverent as only he can be, while he answers some questions about his son. This is when we realize that something happened and we're going to experience it…The camera welcomes us to the world of Johnny Truelove, played by Emile Hirsch as if he doesn't care about anything and as if he knows it all. He doesn't, but he bosses his friends around; mostly Elvis (Shawn Hatosy) who does everything Truelove asks him to do.

The thing is Truelove has the drugs, so Truelove has the power. Everybody comes to ask him for more merchandise; he goes to his father (the Willis character). Everybody owes him cash; but Jake Mazursky owes him big time. Mazursky is portrayed perfectly by Ben Foster, another solid actor in a cast of young talents. Foster may not have worked as much as his peers, but he definitely made the right choices: he co-starred with Hirsch in "The Mudge Boy" (the chemistry is visible here); he surpassed himself with his comedic lead in "Get over it" and he amazed everyone with his turn in "Mystic River", among other things.

We meet Jake entering his family house, where his father (David Thornton) lives with a new woman, Olivia (Sharon Stone) who gave birth to his brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin). It seems that Jake comes and goes as he pleases, grabs some food and asks his father for money, which is a problem for Olivia, who knows the boy is on drugs; his father also knows, but appears to be more understanding.

Mazursky does not get the money, and what happens because of it consist in the development of the film; that unexpectedly starts putting titles on screen as: 'Day One', '9:15 a.m.'. From the beginning, Nick Cassavetes imposes his style to the picture. Taking a complete turn from "The Notebook", the writer/director chooses a camera with a small amount of light (the man Robert Fraisse), that doesn't let us see important things at times. Uncertain and personal, he divides the screen in two at the most surprising moments.

His screenplay, inspired by true events, must have also had something of his own life. I'm not saying he was on drugs, but the way the characters talk is annoying, nevertheless true and accurate. But something fails in the story; maybe it's too long and it doesn't move on. It seems like an eternity and it looses focus. Anyway, Cassavetes' best achievement with "Alpha Dog" is unquestionably the direction of actors. An ensemble with A-list stars and independent greats; a big cast to handle…A lot of young actors.

"The O.C's" Olivia Wilde, Chris Marquette (from "The Girl Next Door"), Amanda Seyfried (from "Mean Girls"), an unrecognizable Harry Dean Stanton, the inconstant but good Dominique Swain, and Justin Timberlake. As Truelove's right hand Frankie, Timberlake gets the best performance of the cast. Forget N'sync, forget his music, just watching constructing his character and making it a human being. It's hard to explain but the singer is really the only actor who gets some true emotion out of his lines.

Amateurish effort

[hall895 · 4/10 · 2 March 2011]

Alpha Dog tells the story of a group of young, suburban gangsters. They think they're big, bad tough guys. They're not. They're just stupid little punks. Emphasis on "stupid". One fine day the leader of this group of morons decides, on the spur of the moment, to kidnap somebody. These idiots probably couldn't pull off shoplifting a pack of gum so it is safe to say that kidnapping proves well beyond their criminal capabilities. Things spiral out of control. None of the morons knows what to do so they just run around saying bleep this, bleep that, bleep everything. If you take out all uses of a certain four-letter word which starts with "f" and ends with "k" this would essentially be a silent movie. What we have here is a bunch of moronic degenerate lowlifes in a rather moronic movie.

The characters are completely distasteful but that doesn't necessarily doom the movie to failure. Amateurish acting, directing, writing and photography...that's the combination which sinks the movie. Then when you add in the fact that you'll inevitably hate every significant character save one what you end up with is one terrible, depressing movie. The only actor to come out of this mess with any kind of credit is Anton Yelchin who plays the young kidnapping victim. He gives a believable, endearing performance. Others are not so fortunate. Emile Hirsch makes hardly any impression at all as the gang leader. Which is better than can be said for the actors playing the rest of the bad guys. They're all rather terrible. Shawn Hatosy is entirely unconvincing in his part. Ben Foster goes ridiculously over the top in playing a strung-out Jewish guy...with a swastika tattoo. Then there's Justin Timberlake. He actually has one scene near the end in which he's quite good. It's as if an acting coach suddenly turned up on the set that day. Other than that? Dear Lord is he bad. The girls in the movie...Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Amber Heard, Dominique Swain...seem to be there for purely decorative purposes. You also get Sharon Stone, who at one point dons the most ridiculous looking fatsuit you've ever seen. And Bruce Willis is in the movie too. I have no idea why. Perhaps he lost a bar bet with the director. The movie is pretty much a failure all the way around. Terribly written, terribly acted, terribly paced...mind-numbingly boring at times. It's a sad story about one poor boy surrounded by a bunch of reprehensible losers. The saddest thing of all is that the movie is based on a true story. This actually happened. These miserably stupid, vile, disgusting people actually exist in this world. Makes you lose a little faith in humanity.

A Sordid Crime (04 September 2007)

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 22 March 2008]

In 1999, in Claremont, California, the violent Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) owes US$ 1,200.00 to the coward drug dealer Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), who is son of the powerful criminal Sonny Truelove (Bruce Willis). They fight and start a personal war, with Jake breaking into the house of Johnny with his friends, stealing the TV and leaving excrement in the living room. Johnny kidnaps Jake's fifteen year old brother Zach Mazurka (Anton Yelchin), who has just had an argument with his parents, and brings him to the upper class house of his friend Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake). Along a couple of days, Zach meets the friends of Frankie, goes to parties, drinks boozes, smokes pot and has sex with other teenagers. When Johnny realizes that kidnapping means life sentence, he asks the minion scum Elvis Schmidt (Shawn Hatosy) to kill the boy.

"Alpha Dog" is an impressive movie, disclosing one of the most sordid crime I have ever seen in a film. I do not know how accurate the story is, but based on the screenplay it is amazing the level of alienation and cold blood of the criminals. I regret that the screenplay reveals the fate of Zach in the beginning, breaking the tension and a possible twist in the end. The performances are awesome, and I was very impressed with Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy and Justin Timberlake, perfect in their roles. The great soundtrack begins with a beautiful interpretation of "Over the Rainbow", by Eva Cassidy, that gives a touch of class to this movie. Johnny (Jesse James) was actually arrested in Saquarema, Região dos Lagos, Brazil. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Alpha Dog"

Raw,gritty and great!

[imdbbl · 20 October 2009]

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

not sure who the ideal audience is for this film

[LeonardMaltinsBalls · 7/10 · 14 January 2007]

Short and sweet, this movie is about a "gang" (that actually just consists of rich white boys in California who bank on selling weed), and the people who owe them money. They kidnap a 15 year old played by Anton Yeltchen (who, in the movie, is the brother of Ben Foster, who owes them $1,200), only Anton is glad to be kidnapped cause he resents his over-bearing parents, and gets a glimpse into this anything-goes, 24-hours-a-day-party-scene of the rich and responsibility-free youth of the west coast. Then during the last few minutes of the movie you see these guys facing the consequences of what they've done.

All in all, I went to see this because it's John Cassevetes' son who made it. I am fairly neutral on Justin Timberlake, or was prior to seeing this. IF NOTHING ELSE this movie is worth seeing for the performances. Seriously, Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster, and most of the other guys are SO good. Bruce Willis is awesome too. If nothing else, Nick Cassavetes, although definitely going in a different direction than his father did, is allowing his characters to become who they are playing. The acting is very real. So at least that runs in the family. The actual story telling is questionable, and pretty Luke-warm. I wasn't expecting much, but was very pleased when the suspense in the last hour of the film was making me very anxious. That rarely happens.

The style of the film was an unbalanced mix of faux documentary/re-enactment and hand held, crime drama stuff, with a mix of verity testimonials (but so few that it was just awkward). If he had committed to any of the above it would have been a lot less mushy. Also, there wasn't quite enough spoon-feeding to please the high schoolers sneaking in to see justin timberlake, and not quite enough realism to please a fan of his father.

It sure was better than the Notebook.

Wait for it, it does get better!

[ViernesTresAM · 7/10 · 5 January 2012]

The only reason I started watching this film is because I think Emile Hirsh and Anton Yelchin are good actors. At first, it seemed good talent wasted, and I couldn't stop wondering what was Bruce Wilis doing. However, my advice is to carry on watching the movie because if you can get passed the horrible acting of Justin Timberlake, suspense starts building up, characters develop in an unexpectedly deep way, and the climax scene makes this movie. It really saves it. The acting of Yelchin in that scene is the main reason why I'm reviewing this film, so that anyone who starts watching sticks up to the end because it's really worth it. Believe me, it really does get better, even GOOD, I dare say. That's why I give it a 7/10.

Powerful real life depiction

[Floated2 · 8/10 · 12 August 2014]

Alpha Dog tells an impulsive, thoughtless act. Based on the true story of the Jesse James Hollywood story, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) and his cronies don't know what to do with their new charge: one moment they stuff him in the closet and duct tape his mouth, and the next, he and Truelove's de facto second-in-command Frankie (Justin Timberlake) are playing X-Box. Zack is unfazed — on one level, he's enjoying the adventure (in what must ultimately be Alpha Dog's saddest moment, he asserts that he sees it as "just another story to tell his grandkids")

Anton Yelchin virtually runs away with the film. Director Nick Cassavetes throws Zack into an exaggerated, flamboyant universe, his brother Jake is unaware that he's taken hostage by a bunch of wannabe Tony Montanas. Yelchin is remarkable in the way he grounds Alpha Dog in reality. Certain scenes stand entirely alone. Zack's encounter with his parents on the stairs, the subtlety of their interaction, his fully believable and familiar frustration. There's nothing else like it in the movie. Late in the film, Yelchin is given a hugely difficult scene where Zack's fantasy abruptly becomes a nightmare, and he nails it, converting Zack's ordinariness from something faintly amusing to something powerful and terrifying. Justin Timberlake is also very impressive in this scene.

This also works because of the extent to which Zack is the story's moral compass. For as long as he likes and trusts his new friends, the kidnapping really does seem like fun and games, and the tone of the film shifts along with his perceptions. From this perspective, his relationship with Frankie, while touching in its way, is the ultimate betrayal, and his desperate appeals to his "friend" in the scene I mentioned earlier are one part of Alpha Dog I can't seem to get out of my mind.

The other half of the film, as you may have guessed, focuses on the misadventures of the kidnappers, and here Cassavetes runs into some problems. To his great credit, his screenplay takes some real stabs at complexity: though seeming every bit the amateur gangstas, Johnny Truelove and Co. openly mock a gangsta rap music video; despite the casual misogyny constantly bandied about, Truelove himself is portrayed early on, and somewhat bizarrely, as a staunch monogamist. Then there's the issue of the parents, who are either corrupt, debauched or clueless; Cassavetes seems to blame them for allowing this to happen, and that seems about right.

In the end, though, it's not quite convincing. Truelove is simply vile, a coward and a liar. He's not allowed to function as a villain, and Emile Hirsch doesn't have much to work with. The film resists the inevitable conclusion that these guys are just losers, insisting on a view of their activities that's much more exotic than they merit, and at a certain point threatening to seem silly. Including a lot of coarse language and some frightening scenes of violence, Alpha Dog can give you a sense of disturbance once completed watching the film.

Not so thrilling - but with some excellent performances

[BeneCumb · 7/10 · 6 October 2012]

Based on real events, this movie is somewhat hectic, too much attention is paid on orgiastic parties driven by drugs and alcohol. The scenes prior to the tragic event are rather superficial. As for the cast, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone are fine as usual (though their parts are rather small), but the real surprises to me were Ben Foster, Anton Yeltchin and Justin Timberlake, especially the latter, who is mostly soft and "dilatory" in his music, but gave a remarkably tough performance in the movie. Female characters did not differ much to me - most of them were just used and sometimes abused by those young males, who often called them bitches.

However, it is strange that, in the U.S., for such a conduct (I mean this pseudo-kidnapping where the "victim" could freely move, party and had no hard feelings towards the involved) it is possible to get life sentence! But potential harsh penalty can provoke desperate measures...

I assume the movie is meant to be a warning for hedonistic youngsters and as a hint that "all criminals get caught", but it is still watchable - but not a family movie.

JT will surprise you...

[carefulyeti · 8/10 · 5 August 2013]

I was not expecting to like this movie and I was not sure how JT would be as an actor but the film was very enjoyable and JT was great! The story is basically about a bunch of drug dealers trying to get back at another drug dealer in an escalating war of actions culminating in the main characters kidnapping the other drug dealers' half brother.

There are the ubiquitous party scenes but they are probably more appropriate in this movie than in others and it is interesting to see how the influence of a leader in a gang plays out amongst the other members.

Overall a good solid film well worth the time.

Shocking , it's really really good

[atinder · 7/10 · 7 August 2009]

I didn't think, I would like this movie as I am not into these kinda of movies, I gave this movie to my brother for his birthday but never watch it until that today.

I was thinking the movie was not going to be that good, the acting will be bad but that sure changed after I put the DVD on.

This movie start of with little party, then it dose not take too long to get to action, when Jake gatecrashes Johnn'y part they both come to a blow.

The next morning Zach who just had argument with is parents,sneak out of his room, only to be kidnapped by Johnny and he pals.

Zach's is okay with it, figuring his brother will pay the debt soon. Johnny tells

Frankie to be Zach's minder and they become really good friends, While Zach is being kidnapped, he really enjoying drinking and smoking.

It can get bit silly, that a lot of people know that his been kidnapped but that the only downside.

but my god the ending,I was shocked I didn't think it would end that way, it was so shocking.

Acting was really good, great movie

7/10

Timberlake Surprises

[jp_011205 · 8/10 · 1 February 2007]

Taking place in southern California, 'Alpha Dog' is based on the 1999 kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz (here named Zack Mazursky). Not only does director Nick Cassavetes focus on the obvious ripped from the headlines story, he also zooms in and sheds light on another aspect. That of which being not all gangsters, or wannabe gangsters in this case, are masterminds. Sometimes, the alpha dog is actually the least intelligent member of the pack.

Addict Jake Mazursky owes a debt of $1,200 to drug dealer Johnny Trulove. Convinced he will never pay up, Johnny and some of his lackeys kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother, Zack. What at first is just a simple prank, swiftly becomes a serious situation. Johnny and lackey, Frankie, played by Justin Timberlake, soon find out they could receive a sentence of life in jail for their little "prank". Now in a state of worry, they begin to consider their options. Fear of Zack spilling the beans in the end overtakes them and leads to what they believe to be the only solution; murdering the young teen.

Opening with an odd montage of old family footage set to 'Over the Rainbow', may leave those who don't know the events the film is based on confused. The confusion only grows as the film finally starts and looks as if to be going nowhere. It's not until Zack's kidnapping everything comes together and the plot is revealed. From here on out the film goes into cruise control keeping almost the same feel up until just before the murder.

The main problem though in 'Alpha Dog' lies within its length. It's not really long to begin at one hour and forty-nine minutes. It looks though like there's a lot of idle time. Most of it is taken up by drinking and smoking. The conclusion is even unnecessary. The mock-interview with Zack's mother, Olivia played by Sharon Stone, should have been where the film ends. That would have given the film the power and oomph it aims for, but never quite reaches.

As far as the acting seen goes, Justin Timberlake steals the show. At first it's a little hard to accept him as a the suburban thug he's playing. It doesn't take long though before the Frankie's true character comes out, showing he's actually a softy who doesn't want anything bad to happen to Zack. He even tries a few times to let him get away, but Zack doesn't take him up on the offer. This side of the role is much more fitting for Timberlake seeing as he doesn't exactly give off the tough guy vibe.

Going into seeing 'Alpha Dog' I didn't expect it to be anything special. The fact it stars Justin Timberlake kind of turned me off to it a little. The fact he turned out to be the only real actor to shine in it really surprised me. He's not the only upside to the film though. Cassavetes presents just enough suspense and emotional distress to make it all work. There's something else too that I can't quite put my finger on that made it appealing. Possibly because even though I knew Zack was going to die, I still held a little bit of hope that he'd live. I really felt bad for Yelchin's character. The lines he gives on the way up the mountain to where his murder takes place all make you want this poor kid to survive the inevitable even more. With that, I'll end with saying out of all the films released in 2007 that I've seen so far, 'Alpha Dog' is the best.

good and bad

[losxn · 6/10 · 13 January 2007]

I think the reality of the film is in between both the opinions. Like they say, the truth lies somewhere in between the two extremes. I think the acting was great - except for the overacting moments. I though the beginning was horrible, especially the opening sequence with over the rainbow. It was so bad. Everything after Sharon Stone's interview felt tacked on. It should have ended with her. In between it accomplished a few good things. But there were sooo many characters and changes in the end, the movie is about Justin Timberlake(who was great) character and the kidnapped kid. I think aside from the initial establishing of the "gang" the acting was great and was the ONLY reason the movie succeeded. I honestly think it was HORRIBLY directed. The cinematography was just as bad and was awkward (like the shot of a truck speeding towards the camera on an empty highway) If a director like Alfonso Cuaron would have directed I think it would have been unforgettable. But in its current state its pretty much a even mixture of art and crap.

The critics got it wrong: this is both good and worthwhile

[pfgpowell-1 · 11 October 2011]

I'm rather puzzled why Alpha Dog got such a rough ride from the critics. There is nothing sensationalist about it, nothing pretentious, it is well-acted by its young cast and above all it is honest. So why didn't the critics seem to like it? Well, I don't know. It is a fictionalised account – though, in truth only small details were changed so that the overall story is pretty much true – of a kidnapping and subsequent murder of a teenager by a bunch of feral and affluent teens whose aims in life consist purely of drinking, taking drugs and engaging in casual sex. To a boy – it would be misleading to write 'to a man' because this bunch, although in their late teens and early 20s – all seem to have the maturity of retarded primary school kids – they take their world view from the pseudo-violent gangsta rap videos which they play incessantly. They own guns but treat them more as a fashion item than a usable weapon, and their heroes are apparently the drug dealers portrayed on their cherished videos. They get precious little parental guidance. Incidentally, although the bunch shown in this film and the real-life idiots they are based on live and party in prosperous Los Angeles suburbs, I suspect it would be wholly unfair to assume this kind of idiot is only to be found in California. I'm sure they will be found in any city in the world where money is plentiful and parents are more concerned with their own lives than that of their offspring. The tragedy unfolds when stupidity mixes with a non-existent moral framework and one idiot decides that cold-blooded murder is preferable to spending time in jail, and another, something of a sycophant, is fully prepared to carry out the killing without any qualms whatsoever. To be fair, one of the young men involved does have pangs of conscience but these are not strong enough for him to do the decent thing and put an end to it all, which would have been very easy indeed. One of the most chilling moments is when he is offered $2,500 to kill the teenage hostage. He turns the offer down flat, but is stupid enough to accept that it was made only in jest. Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy and Justin Timberlake prove that a new generation of talented actors is well on its way and do well as the central characters, and film has a cohesion which holds together what is a simply tale. Writer/director Nick Cassavetes cannot in the slightest be accused of glamorising the kind of hedonistic behaviour his characters engage in, in fact he goes out of his way to highlight just how pointless and potentially dangerous there lifestyle is. If anything Alpha Dog is a moral tale. But the critics didn't like it. Why? I really don't know, but that is no reason why you shouldn't give it some of your time.

No more music videos, that's what I think Alpha Dog

[jaredmobarak · 7/10 · 14 January 2007]

Alpha Dog is based on the real life incident perpetrated by Jesse James Hollywood, (surprisingly his actual given name), and his band of 20-something friends getting over their heads when their drug business hits a snag. Hollywood had a debt owed by another young adult and when a riff begins between them, he took the debtor's brother hostage until the money was paid in full. Hollywood stands trial right now for the planning the murder of Nick Markowitz, a kid who was caught in the middle of a tragedy ripe for a filmed tribute. Alpha Dog isn't as much a tribute as it is a cautionary tale of how these are kids playing dress-up. They see gangsta culture and feel they can buy that lifestyle with their endless supply of money; they have no clue about the consequences of their actions, and no real remorse for the results. When this film is on, it is really on. Some scenes are so real and true to the culture and the mixed emotions going through the heads of kids that know nothing but being led in one direction by someone they think is their friend. Unfortunately, when the film is off, it is distracting and kills off the resonance left by the scenes that were on the money.

Nick Cassavetes, (yes the guy who adapted and directed The Notebook), comes in with a film that shows how much work went into it. You can tell that he really researched the case and tried to keep every detail intact. His use of captions for day, location, and time lend to the documentary-like construction, and the numbering of witnesses shows how many opportunities were there to stop the event from escalating. Just seeing all these people watching what was going on and doing nothing about it really hits home that we live in a world where one feels the need to just mind their own business, washing themselves clean of anything that might happen as a result. Adults see the abduction, but do nothing so as to not risk harm to themselves, and kids just find the circumstances a joke that will go away in the end and should be enjoyed while it lasts. It really is a tragic story and Cassavetes does a good job in getting that point across. However, I had seen an interview with him that spoke of how the film was completed when Hollywood was finally captured in South America. That incident made him go back to the film, recut it, and add footage to portray it. These additions are what ruin the film from being great. The final twenty minutes or so show fake interview footage and clips of those involved being captured. Every minute of it is unnecessary and instead of putting closure to the film, just totally destroys the climax that occurred right before. The movie ends up being disjointed and rough, as though it needed to be put together quickly and never allowed to be honed to perfection. It is a shame too, as the climatic scene is emotionally draining and hard to watch. The actors are phenomenal and rather than leave those images burned to your mind, it is all washed clean by stilted footage without any utility to the story that was being told. A movie should be all encompassing viscerally and emotionally and not made into an episode of America's Most Wanted at the end.

To elaborate a bit on the acting, this cast is stacked to the brim with quality people. Emile Hirsch is great, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone do their job nicely, and it's good to see Shawn Hatosy with a significant role, (he's really good in Outside Providence), and Harry Dean Stanton back in front of the camera. The real standouts, though, are Anton Yelchin, Ben Foster, and Justin Timberlake. Yelchin plays the role of the stolen boy to perfection, full of innocence and a joy in being treated as one of the guys and hanging out with beautiful girls. Foster is just amazing as the junkie brother who's loose canon mentality spins the whole ordeal out of control to the point where Johnny Truelove, (Hirsch's Jesse James Hollywood character), can't decide what to do because he knows he'll have to watch his back whether the hostage lives or dies. The crazy coked out tweaking lends realism to the performance, as well as a comic undertone. Sure he may play it a bit over the top, but it is effective nonetheless. Finally, not to sound like every other review of the film, it must be said that Timberlake steals the show. The range he shows is exceptional for someone unaccustomed to acting on a normal basis. He is natural throughout and you can't help but feel helpless while watching him, Yelchin, and Chris Marquette in the pivotal scene towards the end.

Now while I attribute most of the misfires here to the director, I must give him credit for its successes. The story arc is well laid out and especially effective in displaying some very humorous moments and comic setups for the first half of the film. By giving the audience a joyful entry into the darkness forthcoming, Cassavetes helps us sink into the proceedings and get caught up in the chaos. I also really like what he did with the opening credit sequence by having all his stars bring in old home movies. These aren't just made-up clips of random children, but the innocence of all our characters before society has corrupted them. I picked out Yelchin, Foster, and Hatosy at first viewing, and I'm sure would see that the rest were there as well. Alpha Dog is definitely worth a look, but unfortunately not the masterpiece it seems it could have been.

PS. What were Alan Thicke and Janet Jones-Gretzky doing in this film for the three seconds each of screen time?