Alpha Dog (2007)

"...a gritty, gut-wrenching and disturbing film.  Claudia Puig, USA Today
"...[Timberlake] manages to be both reprehensible and deeply charismatic, and winds up stealing the picture.  Ken Fox, TV Guide
"In his best film to date, Nick Cassavetes directs with ferocious energy...  Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly
"Like "Rebel"...this film excels at capturing the nervous posturing of adolescent boys marking their territory...  Stephen Cole, The Globe and Mail
"...extraordinary naturalism...a real eye-opener.  Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

Editor's Note A difficult gestation period led to Nick Cassavetes's ALPHA DOG being delayed and facing possible legal battles after the real-life subject of the film (alleged kidnapper and murderer Jesse James Hollywood) objected to his portrayal. The cinematic version of Hollywood is named Johnny Truelove and played by Emile Hirsch (LORDS OF DOGTOWN). Truelove is a wild 18-year-old who deals drugs for a living and hangs out with his posse, who revolve around a core of Frankie (Justin Timberlake), Elvis (Shawn Hatosy), and Tiko (Fernando Vargas). When a client of Truelove's, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), is unable to pay off his crystal-meth debt, the group kidnaps his 15-year-old stepbrother, Zack (Anton Yelchin), who becomes a Patty Hearst-like accomplice in his own abduction. Indeed, Zack positively revels in his new position, and lives it up with the boys at every opportunity he gets. But Cassavetes's film really revs into gear as the cops close in on Truelove's band of outsiders, and they face a tough decision about what to do with Zack. The real draw here is Justin Timberlake, and he makes a decent job of his role as a bodyguard/friend to the kidnapped kid. Covered in tattoos and oozing testosterone, Timberlake revels in his role, and his female following will find plenty to gush over here. The film itself is executed at a lightning-fast pace, with quick jump cuts and on-screen captions that point out who the witnesses in the case were. Cassavetes plays around with split-screen techniques and nonlinear storytelling, but he remains acutely aware of what his young target audience is seeking from a modern crime drama, not letting the tension drop for a second. Small roles for Sharon Stone and Bruce Willis provide suitable support to the young cast, and a thumping rap and metal soundtrack supplies a perfect backdrop to the explosive on-screen shenanigans.

	Alan Thicke
	Bruce Willis
	Dominique Swain
	Emile Hirsch
	Harry Dean Stanton
	Justin Timberlake
	Sharon Stone
	Shawn Hatosy
	Aaron Zigman - Original Music By
	Alan Heim - Editor
	Alan Petherick - Art Director
	Nick Cassavetes - Director
	Nick Cassavetes - Writer
	Robert Fraisse - Cinematographer
	Robert Geringer - Executive Producer
	Sidney Kimmel - Producer

Movieline's Hollywood Life
"Nick Cassavetes gets to the heart of the story without running afoul of the truth police....The superb actors flesh out the social commentary." 03/01/2006 p.101

Film Comment
"[A] tightly controlled, highly charged piece of storytelling, based on real-life events." 05/01/2007 p.76

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "[M]uch like KIDS, these hedonistic junior gangsters are a middle class parent's nightmare....ALPHA DOG is quite compelling..." 10/01/2007 p.121

ReelViews 8 of 10
[Alpha Dog] illustrates that not all master criminals are masterminds and that not all "nerds gone wild" stories have happy endings. Director Nick Cassavetes should be commended for the unflinching manner in which he tells the story - it packs a punch...Cassavetes approaches the subject matter with a clear eye and a gallows sense of humor. Most of Alpha Dog's jokes are dark, darker, and darkest. The film is designed to make viewers feel uncomfortable and it punctuates that success with a gut-punch, even though we know what's coming. Cassavetes isn't interested in generating suspense; this is more of a study of human nature. The picture he paints isn't pretty but, by all accounts, it's accurate at least insofar as generalities are concerned. Alpha Dog isn't a happy movie, but it's dramatically solid and the impressions it leaves will not be easily shaken. - James Berardinelli

Reel.com 9 of 10
Not since David Lynch followed the sex-and-violence-drenched Lost Highway with the genial Disney film The Straight Story has there been a more stunning shift in styles than what director Nick Cassavetes exhibits in Alpha Dog. Cassavetes's previous film, The Notebook, was a sentimental romance without a cynical bone in its body, but Alpha Dog is a profane, enthusiastically hedonistic ode to teen sex and substance abuse that makes River's Edge look like Pretty in Pink. Yet while The Notebook and Alpha Dog couldn't appeal to more different demographics, they're equally satisfying in terms of performance and visual style--like the directors of the old studio system, Cassavetes is a filmmaker of enormous range, and in Alpha Dog he delivers a riveting, darkly hilarious tale of disaffected youth. - Jim Hemphill