Directed by: Nick Cassavetes
Premise: A dramatization of the true story of Zack
Mazursky (Anton Yelchin), a teenager who was kidnapped by Johnny Truelove, a
young drug proprietor (Emile Hirsch), and held as collateral for drug money owed
to him by Zack’s older brother (Ben Foster).
What Works: Alpha Dog is a great little film
that is similar to the pictures of Larry Clark (Kids, Bully)
but it's done with a formalist streak and has far less contempt for the
characters than Clark’s films. The picture delves into the suburban drug world
in California and its characters have a sense of authenticity to them in the way
they speak, in the way they move, and how the characters relate to one another
physically within the scenes. Something Alpha Dog is able to do
extraordinarily is to create characters that are stupid or make stupid
decisions, but the film also treats them with dignity and respect. The acting
supports this, namely in Hirsch as Johnny Truelove, a drug dealer who is
confronted by responsibilities that he cannot handle, Foster as Jake Mazursky,
the older brother who is attempting to fly straight, and Yelchin as Zack Mazursky, a naïve kid dropped into the world of sex,
violence, and drugs and adapts to that environment. The big surprise of the film
is Justin Timberlake as Frankie, one of Truelove’s groupies. Frankie is given
the role of babysitting Zach and the two characters develop an unlikely but
close bond. Timberlake’s performance is really tremendous as he carries the
emotional weight of the film. He plays the character who realizes exactly what
is happening and the legal and moral implications of the events. It’s a
tremendous performance that ought to have been a breakthrough role for
Timberlake if only the film had gotten wider distribution.
What Doesn’t: The film’s only faults are in the
ending, as the picture recreates some interviews with the surviving characters.
These interviews just don’t reveal very much to the story and the film could
have ended on a stronger note.
DVD extras: Featurette, witness timeline.
Bottom Line: Alpha Dog a solid piece of filmmaking that is both funny and tragic. The performances are
strong all around and the film has a strong narrative structure with characters
unlike those normally seen in a teen crime picture.