Alpha Dog

By: Lovey

DIRECTOR: Nick Cassavetes
CAST: Bruce Willis, Matthew Barry, Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster and Sharon Stone.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Alpha Dog is one of those dark and disturbing movies. To be honest, it caused me a similar unease to the one I felt after watching shock titles such as Kids and Bully. Naturally it's more disturbing watching kids do bad things in films than adults, and in Alpha Dog the kids do very bad things.

The film is loosely based on Jesse James Hollywood a drug dealer who was the youngest man ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list. In the film, Hollywood is Johnny Truelove played by rising star Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) who does a bloody good job.

Set in 1999 in Claremont California the movie tells the story of how the hunt for the FBIs youngest most wanted came about.

Johnny is a small time drug dealer to the cops but a hero to his peers who is pushed by a crazed drug user too far, causing him to retaliate by kidnapping the guy's brother.

One of the mates who help in the kidnap is played by singer Justin Timberlake, whose character, Frankie, ends up playing a big and crucial role in the movie. And it’s worth mentioning ladies, that JT not only brought sexy into the film (sorry couldn't help myself) but also surprised me with his acting skills. That said, it wasn’t a stretch considering the character he plays is not too far from his real life personality.

Director Nick Cassavetes has also shown his versatility, successfully moving from the soppy The Notebook to the edgy Alpha Dog.

Overall it’s a good movie, that will make you wonder what you would do if put in a similar situation.

In a word: Diabolical

Verbatim:
Jake Mazursky: (after beating up five people) “If anyone sees Johnny Truelove... tell him that Jake Mazursky was looking for him… Thank you.”