Alpha Dog (2006)

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

See this movie for one thing - Ben Foster. The movie is otherwise just this side of average, though an engaging story. Think of it as "Savages" light. *Really* light! And then we get to Ben Foster. He captures the psychotic out-of-control life of a meth addict way too close for comfort. It's as scary as it is just painful to watch. He really sells the out-of-control desperation. Zero suspension of disbelief necessary. Enjoy the movie, but don't blame me if you find yourself just waiting for the next scene with Foster's character to come up.

Surprisingly powerful film with strong performances from a huge cast of recognizable faces. Gritty and unsettling how far this "kidnapping" goes which hits home at the end when the audience is told what happened to everyone involved.It's a fact based drama surrounding a middle class drug dealer and his gang of 20-ish friends who kidnap the teenager brother of a client who owes them money and refuses to pay. Some big surprises in the acting department from a very likable Justin Timberlake and also Anton Yelchin. Ben Foster is F'n crazy but in an awesome way, he continues to impress me the more I see of him and then there's Sharon Stone -Wow, crazy lady in the fat suit. As an FYI The F-word and its derivatives is said 411 times in this movie. 7/11/14

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.

ALPHA DOGThis 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?"For more reviews, please like my Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl