Review of Alpha Dog (2006) by Kelly B — 30 Apr 2011

'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(Played by Ben Foster) owes a debt of $1,200 to drug dealer Johnny Trulove(Played by Emile Hirsch). Convinced he will never pay up, Johnny and some of his lackeys kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother, Zack(Anton Yelchin)....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. I felt that mock interview given with her wearing a ridiculous looking fat suit and makeup made the whole scene lose what I felt it was aiming for. Which was sorrow for a mother losing her 15year old son, but instead Stone plays it way too over the top for anyone to feel anything but sorrow but instead look at that scene like you would watch some bad sketch on SNL.

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. 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. Ben Foster is another actor who I felt stole the show, and it's unfortunate you only see him for half the movie and then not at all. Foster tends to always play his characters with a bit too much "edge" but his portrayal was spot on perfect for this one. His scene where he clears out a room in a fit of rage looking for johnny truelove, is done with so much intensity and is literally so bad ass one cannot hope he figures to get his hands on the thugs who killed his brother, but we never see him again other then a phone call exchange that again shows his rage but nothing more then that.

Nick 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. One thing that annoyed me just a bit is the fact that they made a point earlier in the film to show that Zack knew Tae Kwon Do, to the point he was throwing Frankie's character around earlier in the film. I felt they should have never put that image in the viewers head because it screams for him to use that type of martial arts training when you know your life's in danger. One can argue that him being a 15 year old and maybe trusting them still he never thought to use it but they should have never burnt that image of him as a kid who could very well done something to evade his captors. Anywho....

With that, One could even say in 10 to 20 years looking back, Alpha Dog may be that landmark ensemble casted movie similar to movies like 'The Outsiders' where you look at the actors in it and it's literally a who's who. I fully expect to see the likes of Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin, Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried to continue to shine in hollywood for years to come. With a great ensemble cast, a good script, good direction, and a heart wrenching climax, Alpha Dog is a good movie to watch...