Alpha Dog (2007)

A Disturbing True Story

Shadow Watcher
Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake

ALPHA DOG may be an excellent motion picture, a thinly disguised account of the real-life kidnapping and murder of an innocent teenager by a cowardly young drug dealer and his not-too-bright cohorts, but it is also a very disturbing film. Indeed, it elicits the same uncomfortable feelings that I had after viewing the equally fine RIVER'S EDGE (1986), and prompts two questions, "Where is the morality in today's young people?" and "Where are their parents?"

Ben Foster is a drug addict who, like most of the other characters in this film, comes from a fairly well-to-do family. When he can't pay his narcotics tab to drug dealer Emile Hirsch, he declares "war" against the young, conscienceless man. Hirsch retaliates by kidnapping his younger brother and putting his henchman, Justin Timberlake, in charge of the hostage.

During the 2-3 days that the kid is being held, many of Timberlake's friends are made aware that his companion is a kidnap victim, but with one exception, all of them think that that's "cool," rather than "wrong". Even the victim thinks that this entire experience is just for fun...until it's too late.

Drawing from the facts of the Jesse James Hollywood case, Nick Cassavetes has written and directed a powerful film that will have viewers pondering the sordid world of greed, power and privilege that it exposes.

The cast, which includes Shawn Hatosy, Christopher Marquette, Anton Yelchin and Bruce Willis as Hirsch's father who facilitates his son's illegal activities, is uniformly superb. And, Sharon Stone, cast as the mother of the kidnapped boy, delivers the performance of her career.

© Michael B. Druxman, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (available December 2008) October 23, 2008

Highly Entertaining

I actually went into this movie expecting the worst, since I was told by a close friend of mine that this movie was absolutely horrible. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that my friend was DEAD wrong. Alpha Dog was highly entertaining, from beginning to end.

Emile Hirsch was absolutely fantastic as Johnny Truelove, and he stole the show with his performance. But I must say, Justin Timberlake did an OUTSTANDING job as well. His performance was so believable, that you'd never know in a million years that he hasn't been acting all of his life.

This movie was based on a very compelling, real life story, which made watching the movie even more intense.

If you're thinking of watching this movie, but haven't seen it yet, because someone told you it stinks, think again. 4 stars all the way. October 8, 2008

Outstanding cautionary tale, a message to the madness

"Alpha Dog" presents us with the image of a group of teens, and we should rightfully ask, is this the director's, is this the writers' depiction of post-modern American youth, the portrait of a generation, or is it merely the documentary presentation of one group of teens in California circa 1999? If it is the former, then they are making a bold and broad statement indeed. Because we have not seen a picture of youth so enormously depraved and rudderless since the young ruffians of "A Clockwork Orange". In the past we saw crime arise in the American landscape due to the effects of stultifying poverty, and film has done an admirable job of chronicling this cause and effect. In "Alpha Dog" the equation is altogether different. These kids have too much money. What they suffer from, what they have not the least faintest idea of--is the influence of a moral example in their lives. These parents, with the exception of young Zach's mother, are enveloped in careless lives of hedonistic selfishness, and they transmit this pattern of living with devastating effect to their offspring, with the result that their children's characters become the likenesses of amoral wasteland which they observe so clearly in their elders. The father treats the teenage son like a drinking buddy, a partner in debauchery, then upbraids him in the morning for not paying rent. Kids do not feel loved, so they seek to fill the emptiness with narcotics; they seek the twisted empowerment of a thug's life. Cassavetes does very well in capturing the chain of cause and effect from parent to child and the ramifications of generational neglect and parental abdication. That this is so egregiously obvious is in the depiction of the teens' socializing--there is no attempt(save the exception of Zack), as there usually is with teenagers, to cover up or conduct their excursions into vice on the sly, for fear of being discovered and punished. Rather the teens immerse themselves in debauchery, in broad daylight, not even reveling in it, as simply just going about their business, with not even the slightest notion that they might in fact be chastised or taken into account for their behavior. Again one wonders whether this is an accurate estimate of the lives of a majoirty of American teens, or simply a case study in itself.
All in all, despite its flaws, this is a very good film, heartrending and sad, one almost totally suffused through and through with tragedy and evil. To my mind there were some marvelous performances. One earlier reviewer, whose piece I respect very much as a fine analysis of the film, characterized Ben Foster's performance as one of the film's chief liabilities. I feel it is one of the film's greatest strengths--a powerful performance of equal parts desperation, rage and intensity, it cemented the whole film for me. From his growing body of work we can see that Foster is one of our finest up-and-coming young actors. Is he over the top in his reading of Jake? As the earlier reviewer put it, Jake is, after all, a psycho--but then why wouldn't his character, mentally warped and then his neuroses inflamed so much the more by narcotics, be over the top in some sense? Moreover, his performance for me exuded a magnitude of intensity, rather than gratuitous bravado, as an over-the-top character might. Moreover, as the earlier reviewer pointed out, the film's emphasis was upon the ramifications of parental irresponsibility, rather than a celebration of teen hedonism and violence--and indeed, it is this irresponsibility which is the truest culprit of the whole film. The shocking irony was that the only child of the only parent who was really interested in being a parent, perhaps too much so, was murdered. How terrible--and Justin Timberlake will in fact attract teens to this film, with the question presenting itself, will they understand it to be a study of the consequences of parental irresponsibility, or will they merely take the film's gratuitous and repugnant depiction of teen debauchery as the standard definition of adolescence? Who can tell, other than to say our prayers go out to the mother of this poor boy who was killed. The carelessness and selfishness of those who perhaps never should have been parents clearly bears unspeakably tragic consequences for all of society and most ironically, as "Alpha Dog" reveals, for those parents who try conscientiously to protect their children from the senseless evil of kids whose aimless and neglected lives have given them no moral compass to live by. An excellent cautionary tale to all parents, ever more powerful because it is true, but aside from its real artistic merits the film will serve a benevolent purpose if it is contemplated seriously by those parents whose conduct could benefit most from its message. August 1, 2008

Disturbing but a great true story

The fact that the story is true makes the movie more disturbing. Actually a great film in HD. The visuals are great and the story and acting is very good. The lead character is a wimpy coward and Timberlake plays it well.
The Combo HD DVD is a great deal and a good addition to your HD collection. July 28, 2008

Teenage wasteland--oh wait, it's sunny California!

"Alpha Dog" is a perfect companion piece to the equally harrowing "Bully". Both films chronicle sordid tales of amoral teenagers living vacant lives filled with the artificial pleasures of sex, drugs, and holding power over one's peers. In "Bully", the casualty of wanton violence was a ruthless, sadistic punk. In "Alpha Dog", the victim is a kid who doesn't come to appreciate his family until he's immersed in a night of boozing, sucking on a bong, and engaging in casual sex in a swimming pool. Played by Anton Yelchin, he's a nice kid, torn between the overbearing yet moral discipline of his parents, and the neurotic, jittery narcotic overload of his older brother. Much of the film focuses on the kid being held "hostage", and the friendship he forms with Justin Timberlake's character. Justin treats him with respect, and the kid responds by trusting him with his life. He even allows Justin to bind his wrists and mouth with electrical tape, accepting this dubious action like a Judas kiss.
The film is energetic, well-paced, and disturbing. It also has smatters of perverse humor. I think the ending speech by Anton Yelchin sums it up perfectly. He says that he's sick of leading a life where he isn't good at anything. He comes to appreciate his mom, who's "the bomb". He's at a turning point, and can choose the right path. Unfortunately, fate will decide otherwise. The parents of most of the film's teenagers are reprehensible; it's obvious the director's message is that screwed-up parenting leads to messed-up kids. Johnny Truelove's dad (played by Bruce Willis) only chastises his son when he does something to threaten the family drug-dealing business. Timberlake's character's father is a drunken womanizer who pulls it together in the morning to go to his suit-and-tie job. His son's work for the day involves pruning the abundant marijuana plants in the backyard. "He has a garden full of vegetables and spices to eat healthy, but drinks liquor every night and fills his veins with drugs. What a hypocrite".
For teenagers to party like this and soak their minds in a cocaine fog means that their parents are not involved. The hard-earned pleasures of sports, playing a musical instrument, or mastering an art are replaced by the glowing rapture of fried brain cells. This leads to poor judgment that can end in murder. Or maybe these kids were just never taught the intrinsic value of human life. That involves parental guidance as well.
July 13, 2008

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