Alpha Dog Review
Posted by Chad Webb on 01.15.2007
These dogs were not kept on a tight leash.
Bruce Willis: Sonny Truelove
Matthew Barry: Interviewer
Emile Hirsch: Johnny Truelove
Anton Yelchin: Zack Mazursky
Ben Foster: Jake Mazursky
Sharon Stone: Olivia Mazursky
Fernando Vargas: Tiko “TKO” Martinez
Vincent Kartheiser: Pick Giamo
Justin Timberlake: Frankie Ballebacher
Shawn Hatosy: Elvis Schmidt
Harry Dean Stanton: Cosmo Gadabeeti
Dominique Swain: Susan Hartunian
Amanda Seyfriend: Julie Beckley
Written/Directed By: Nick Cassavetes
Release Date: January 12, 2006
Running Time: 117 minutes
Rated R for pervasive drug use and language, strong violence, sexuality and nudity.
Scroll down, look at my final rating, and then come back to the top. That’s right, I am giving positive marks for a film involving Justin Timberlake. For those expecting an Academy Award winning performance by the pop star, you will be surely disappointed. One will not have to dig very deep for reasons to hate his acting, or the film in general. However, Timberlake lends a solid portrayal, and proves to have sufficient potential as an actor. Truthfully, he was not bothersome at all, and that is an astounding achievement considering the hurdles he had in front of him. Despite some flaws, Alpha Dog is a tragic, affecting, and delicate film that will strike with a skin-piercing impact.
Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) has made a pleasant life for himself as a young drug dealer in the late 1990’s. Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake) and Elvis Schmidt (Shawn Hatosy) are two members of the clan that follow Johnny around constantly. When one of Johnny’s regular clients, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), owes a debt and is unable to pay, a fight between the two ensues. It escalates into an extremely personal war, which takes a serious turn when Jakes younger brother Zack (Anton Yelchin) is kidnapped by Truelove and his buddies. However, the situation is not really an imprisonment. Zack is basically allowed to wander around freely, as long as someone keeps an eye on him. He plays video games, watches movies, drinks, smokes, and parties with Johnny’s posse. For a 15-year-old, it is a heavenly state of affairs, and Zack is not looking to return to suburbia with his mother and father any time soon. Unfortunately, everyone is searching for Zack, and Johnny must decide on a solution because he could face life in prison.
Alpha Dog is based on the crimes of Jesse James Hollywood and his gang that transpired over a span of three days. At age 20, he was one of the youngest people on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List. As far as I am concerned, everything but the names has stayed the same. During the filming of this movie, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald Zonen handed over copies of virtually every document he had possession of over to the film crew. He acted as an unpaid consultant due to his desire for Hollywood to be found and arrested. Alpha Dog was originally slated for a summer 2006 release, but got pushed back. It was also shown on the closing night at the Sundance Film Festival.
This is not a story about criminal masterminds, or drug dealers that were ruthless and calculated. Alpha Dog follows a clan of inexperienced and imprudent wannabe gangsters, who chose a course of action that was impromptu and foolish. That is what draws the viewer to the film. These are not hackneyed characters, or ones that evoke a fictitious movie feeling. It captures the uneasy pomposity, terror, and naivety of adolescent men similar to Rebel Without a Cause, and the aura of Almost Famous in that a teenager with a proper and innocent upbringing discovers a short-lived paradise in a setting of decadence.
Timberlake is a breath of fresh air, and thankfully the controversy surrounding his entrance into acting is a book that can be closed. In terms of the strongest performance, the movie belongs to Emile Hirsch. He is devastating, cogent, and remarkable. He has now proved himself as a exceptional actor. After The Emporers Club and the underrated The Girl Next Door, he could be well on his way to a successful career if the correct choices are made. The other notable depiction is revealed by Ben Foster, (X-Men: The Last Stand) who vividly resembles Ryan Gosling and/or Edward Norton. It is a supporting role, but his lines are delivered with undeniable ferocity, and his vicious expressions are unforgettable.
As the poster illustrates, Zack is the nucleus to this destructive cell, and Anton Yelchin lands the role with pitch-perfect timing. It’s easy to see why all these criminals enjoyed his company, and did not torture him. He is a relatively quiet and easygoing kid who was in desperate need of some freedom from his controlling parents. One memorable scene displays Zack demonstrating his Tae Kwan Do skills to a startled Frankie. Their bond is emotional and absorbing. Yelchin has primarily made appearances on television, but his only other film contribution worth mentioning was in 2001’s Along Came A Spider. Bruce Willis is adequate as Sonny Truelove, the father of Johnny. This is not Willis’s best work, nor his worst. My main flaw with the entire picture is Sharon Stone. In one scene I admired her skills, but every other sequence in which she was involved was overdramatic. In what should have been a compelling interview towards the end, the strength of her speech is diminished due to a horrible makeup job.
Many recognizable faces can be seen around Johnny Truelove’s parties. Shawn Hatosy from 1998’s The Faculty does a fine job as Elvis Schmidt. Amanda Seyfried from Mean Girls has a small, but delightful part as Zack’s love interest. Dominique Swain from Face/Off is the friend who tries to be the voice of reason. Even Alan Thicke (TV’s Growing Pains) has a minor part.
The unyielding hand behind this controversial story is Nick Cassavetes. I find that mainstream critics scrutinize Mr. Cassavetes offerings too heavily. In my opinion, he is one of the most underrated filmmakers alive today. He completed one of the best romances in years with The Notebook, but also has the extraordinary and thought-provoking John Q on his resume. Alpha Dog continues his trend of versatility in selecting projects. His camera work is fearless, gritty, and authentic. He crafts each character so that viewers loathe them, but remain entertained nonetheless. This was designed to be a rough and unnerving account of those well-known events. Instead of exploiting the criminal world, he gracefully details the consequences of glorifying a violent culture. This does not amplify or shrink my admiration for his work. Simply stated, this is another satisfactory effort from Cassavetes.
Alpha Dog will be praised mostly by youths from the ages of 16-23. The ample amounts of booze, marijuana, nudity, and profanity create an awkward, yet fulfilling atmosphere as things unfold. The instability of the scenario, combined with the idiocy of these captors is intriguing and fascinating. This is an examination of that incident sure, but also of relationships and personalities, and how they can explode if the proper ingredients mix. All in all, Alpha Dog will propel the audience to research the case further, and for that, it is a welcomed drama this early in 2007.
The 411: This was a pretty decent film in the end. I had a few complaints, but nothing substantial. The acting by this young cast was fantastic, and without the firm eyes of Writer/Director Nick Cassavetes helming, the film might not have been this accessible. As for Timberlake, he did ok on SNL, was just plain outshined by Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey in the Direct-to-DVD movie Edison Force, but he is shockingly effective here. Hey, at least he didn’t debut in a dance/musical film. I definitely recommend this for those who think January has no acceptable films to offer.
