Taking place in southern California, '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 owes a debt of $1,200 to drug dealer Johnny Trulove. Convinced he will never pay up, Johnny and some of his lackeys kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother, Zack. 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.
As far as the acting seen goes, 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.
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. He's not the only upside to the film though. 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. With that, I'll end with saying out of all the films released in 2007 that I've seen so far, 'Alpha Dog' is the best.
Addict Jake Mazursky owes a debt of $1,200 to drug dealer Johnny Trulove. Convinced he will never pay up, Johnny and some of his lackeys kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother, Zack. 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.
As far as the acting seen goes, 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.
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. He's not the only upside to the film though. 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. With that, I'll end with saying out of all the films released in 2007 that I've seen so far, 'Alpha Dog' is the best.