Title: Alpha Dog
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch
Directed By: Nick Cassevetes
Produced By: Steven Markoff, Robert Geringer, Avram Kaplan
Genre: Drama and Crime/Gangster
Release Date: January 12th, 2007
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive drug use and language. Strong violence, sexuality and nudity
Distributors: Universal Pictures Distribution
Johnny is a Los Angeles drug dealer. He comes from a good family, owns his home, several cars and enjoys partying with his friends. Johnny is 19. When his friend Jake welshes on a debt, Johnny and his boys kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother Butch and hold him as a marker. Even though Butch has numerous chances to escape, he doesn't. He's enjoying partying with them, losing his virginity and having a good time - until something goes horribly wrong. - Yahoo! Movies
From the first strains of “Over the Rainbow” in the opening credits to the not-a-surprise-ending that you hoped wouldn't happen, Alpha Dog is a movie that is more entertaining than it should be. With a cast including Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis, Shawn Hatosy, Sharon Stone, Ben Foster and Harry Dean Stanton and based on the life of the youngest man to ever be on the F.B.I.'s Most Wanted list, you have the makings of a great flick. Where I think it goes wrong is the film is too funny for it's own good. If you are looking for a balls out gang drama look somewhere else. What you do get is a funny movie with an ending that seems all wrong for the tone that has been set. This movie portrays the dealer lifestyle as being almost all fun and games. Even the kidnapped kid is having a ball. Until...
Justin Timberlake can act. There, I said it. I don't think he will win any awards or anything but once I got past all the fake tattoos (more later), he was just a character in the film. Now I'm not pointing him out because he was any better than anybody else in the movie, it's because he exceeded my expectations. Another stand out is Ben Foster. Having seen him in movies like Marvel Comics The Punisher and X3, it's refreshing to see him in a slightly larger role. He has an insane quality that just freaked me out. Onto the rest. There really isn't any single star in Alpha Dog, it seems that everybody gets at least one good scene in which to shine. Now Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone are little more than glorified cameos but watch for a true cameo by non other than Alan Thicke. Yep, Growing Pains' Alan Thicke.
The only issues I have with the movie are the fact that it's funnier than it should be, the tattoos all look way too new and bright to be real, and some of the split scene work was a little extemporaneous. You know, I never thought I would ever use that word in my life.
Final thoughts. I really feel that I should have more to say about Alpha Dog but either A) It's not worth that many words or B) I'm losing my touch. But if I had to sum it up I would say that if Alpha Dog took itself a little more seriously you would have an excellent film. As it stands, it's worth a rental just to see Justin Timberlake grow as an actor and a really over the top (in a good way) performance from Ben Foster.
Keep on rolling with your homies and keep peepin my reviews,
Mitch Emerson
mitchemerson@hotmail.com
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