Review of Alpha Dog (2006) by Parker M — 01 Nov 2010

3 Stars out of 5.

This story is about parenting, submits Sonny Truelove (Bruce Willis) at an opening interview to Alpha Dog. Truelove's harsh, recollecting manner implies that some devastating event has occurred, something of the unforgivable nature. Alpha Dog doesn't centralize around a sins of the fathers thematic but it has a story about a bunch of suburban delinquents who go in over their head and can never come back to the surface. Director Nick Cassavetes smartly underuses the parents of the film. They are the absentees of the film and when the teenage drug runners are running wild, we must stop to ask where are their parents. But Alpha Dog doesn't muddle itself down as an overzealous parental infomercial, it puts the parents to the side as the objects of strife and tells a story of the boy that snuck out the window, not the parents who sat crying at home. In exchange for that we get Emile Hirsch speaking in the tough-guy dialect, Justin Timberlake sputtering his lines as if he should be a rap star, and Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone flaring their lines along the chewed up scenery. But Cassavetes makes all the right choices--he puts the parents to the side, directs Timberlake to a strong performance, and Hirsch proves his talent once again. Alpha Dog just continues to get better.

Johnny Truelove (Hirsch), Frankie Ballanbacher (Timberlake), and his goons are having business problems. Jake (Ben Foster) hasn't paid up Johnny over a little drug deal and tempers flare. Johnny and Jake go their separate ways, both threatening each other that their rivalry is far from over. By chance, Johnny and his gang drive by Jake's younger brother Zack (the perfectly casted Anton Yelchin) and they take him as a marker. What turns out to be a completely innocuous hostage situation escalates into something Johnny and his boys cannot handle.

Cassavetes knows how to treat the youth in Alpha Dog. He does not revere this way of life they're living through flashy out of place camera work or over the top party sequences. Well, there's tons of parties but Cassavetes tones the scenes with this idea of mayhem. These kids may think they have it all, but they are in over their heads with the booze, drugs, and incessant fornication. And before they can realize they're just kids, it is all too late.

Cassavetes's narrative is a back-and-forth mantra of interviews, action, and titles illustrating the 'witnesses' of the entire happening. Cassavetes doesn't necessarily tie everything together but he lets us know that these people are witnessing something. The recollecting parents are contemplating the aftermath. An interesting build that goes to and fro without relaying the answers. Cassavetes would rather that we vicariously question the whole ordeal.

Undoubtedly, Alpha Dog has its sloppy moments. The thuggish banter between the boys are delivered in rhyme to a supposed rap song, with extra cheese. With swear words every sentence, these boys talk as if they've seen to many gangster movies. Despite Cassavetes inconsistently adequate script, his direction is intelligent, modest, and effective. Alpha Dog lets its actors act and doesn't rely on silly action sequences to boost its beat. Cassavetes takes care of that problem by inundating us with rap tunes, be it non-diegetic to dramatize the scene or diegetic to crank up a party's atmosphere.

But the real highlight is Anton Yelchin. He's really the only youth with a chance in this story. He is bashful, but he has smarts, benevolence, and a genuine appeal. The thug life hasn't snared him yet. He's the guy who we want to care for--and Cassavetes gets this. He doesn't absorb the film in a promotion of Timberlake's curious capability in acting--Justin does that himself; Yelchin gives a steadfast performance to make his interactions with the characters heartfelt and convincing. Even him and Timberlake's character have a bromance but that bond is torn from a devastating climax, when decisions are made and the impulsiveness of the falling youth characters emits.

Perhaps the final interview of Alpha Dog is a misstep. Sharon Stone sheds a overly doleful tear and Bruce Willis sits in a chair with a devastated frown that almost show his eyebrows bouncing. The melancholy is a little too much. We realize the kids aren't all right--the message is clear enough but Cassavetes feels the need to bombard us with an impassive interview that flushes out the climax's already-established effectiveness. Cassavetes makes one minor error, but his superior correct directorial choices cannot go unnoticed. He handles the youth in the film with care and gives them an edge of authenticity. His interpretation of the youth's impulsiveness isn't ageist, just honest.

Alpha Dog will surprise you with its non-linear progression. It has humour, sorrow, and potent tones of nostalgia. The finale of Alpha Dog makes Henry Hill from Goodfellas seem like the lucky one. To recall, Henry's last line from that masterpiece was "I have to live the rest of my life as a schmuck." Cassavetes's Alpha Dog is a modest inadvertent little response to that--at least, Mr. Hill, you'll live the rest of your life.

I SAY-See it.