Alpha Dog (Widescreen Edition)

This movie is actually based on true events. It features a gang Who kidnap a young man and so the story goes did they give him back or do they do something bad to him? It stars a very young Justin Timberlake! All I can say is wow!!

My wife reads this book all the time and she watches the movie as many times she can.

Rented this for movie night. My husband loves it!

I love anything with Justin Timberlake in it

I stumbled across Alpha Dog the other night on cable and found myself wrapped up in the true life teen gangster story along the lines of Larry Clark's  Bully , although lighter and funnier. Dog is filled with young acting talent reminiscent of  The Outsiders - The Complete Novel (Two-Disc Special Edition)  combined with strong seasoned performances by Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis, and Harry Dean Stanton.Dog, directed by Nick Cassavetes ( The Notebook (New Line Platinum Series) ), who also played bad guy Packard Walsh in the so bad it's good 80's movie  The Wraith . Amazon already does an informative write up, which talks about Cassavetes own run in with the law for his contact with the real life character behind Johnny Truelove, still on the F.B.I's ten most wanted list at the time of the film. I found that interesting. Although I disagree with their interpretation of Foster's character Jake, which I'll address.The story, based on actual events, follows a group of suburban kids who watch music videos, act tough, drink 40's, smoke cheeba, disrespect people, and talk shiite. The leader of this crew is Johnny Truelove played by Emile Hirsch, who seems to get better with every role, and gives his best performance a year later in  Into the Wild . Johnny is a smooth manipulator but gets most of his respect from his family ties, also surrounding himself with idiots doesn't hurt.In this movie of solid performances it is Ben Foster's Jake Mazursky that steals the spotlight, as he did in similar fashion from Russel Crowe and Christian Bale in the western  3:10 to Yuma (Widescreen Edition)  with his portrayal of Charlie Prince. Amazon describes Foster's character Jake as a scum bag drug addict. I disagree. There is no doubt he has a drug problem, and problems in general, but in a time when most just talk trash, Jake actually follows through. In some aspects I saw him as a stand up guy, or would be without drugs, and has a fearlessness that other men can respect, under different circumstances he could have been a leader. Ben Foster does a great job showing rage in this part with words or without. Justin Timberlake also gives a good performance as the mostly obnoxious, with hints of charisma, Frankie Ballenbacher.The basic plot is Jake owes Johnny Truelove money. Johnny tries to disrespect Jake like he does with his other friends, but Jake isn't his other friends, and it continues to escalate from there. The crew decide to teach Jake a lesson and kidnap his younger brother, whom Jake is close with. This sets a chain of events sometimes fun and entertaining but ultimately tragic.

Based on the true story of the murder of Nick Markowitz (Jake Mazursky, played by Anton Yelchin in the movie), the younger brother of Benjamin Markowitz (Zack Mazursky, played by Ben Foster in the movie) who had been involved in drug dealing with Jesse James Hollywood (Johnny Truelove, played by Emile Hirsch in the movie). The actual events took place in and around Santa Barbara rather than Palm Springs and Claremont, but the essential story is basically true to life. It is a disturbing depiction of events spinning out of control. Nobody, not even the "Alpha Dog" (Truelove) initially intends Jake's death; Truelove only kidnaps him on an impulse to use him as a "marker" to get Zack to repay a debt. It's a stupid idea, and when it goes nowhere Truelove becomes desperate to find a way to get out of his mess. His crew, most especially Frankie (Justin Timberlake in what may be his best movie performance) just wants to send him home, but Truelove is afraid of going to prison. The outcome is horrific and haunting.Nick Cassavetes directs the movie somewhat in the fashion of "Parenthood" -- there are several stories intertwined with no clear central character, making it a story without a main focal point. That in turn makes it somewhat difficult to engage with. But it nonetheless grabs you and if you let it, carries you into a dark little corner of our society where vague rules are made up as they go along and enforced brutally. The cast is stellar and the interplay between standard cinema and documentary style is compelling. I liked it the first time I saw it and the two times I've watched it since.

This is a pretty good little movie in what I call "The Youth & Chaos" subgenre. These films are of Suburban kids getting involved with drugs, crime etc. This one is based on a true story and is about a small-time "pot" dealer played by Emile Hirsch who kidnaps the kid brother of a guy he's having a dispute with over money. The film overall is good enough with good writing and acting but the most lacking element here is probably the most important element in ANY film, THE DIRECTOR. Nick Cassavetes didn't really do much with the material, never showing any "flair" for direction resulting in periods of "choppy" editing and a scene towards the end of the film with Sharon Stone that's so horrible it should've been left on the cutting-room floor! With that being said the talented cast and compelling narrative keeps this film afloat. It's no " BULLY" but it's worth a look if you're into these kind of movies.

10/10

Pour ma collection Bruce Willis et fière de mon achat

Gran película lastima que no sirve ese formato para los blu ray en mexico

Mi è piaciuto, non è mai noioso.

J'ai reçu ce film sous-blister et impeccable😄😄

Todo bien. Buena pelicula, basada en hechos reales.