As I mentioned last week January is usually the month for movie flops and Alpha Dog, based on a true story about some drug-addicted San Fernando teenagers, is yet another among that category.
Ben Foster and Emile Hirsch
Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) lives a comfortable lifestyle supplying the San Fernando Valley teens with plenty of drugs. When one of his clients, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), owes him a substantial amount of money, Johnny wants it back, but Jake doesn’t have it. Johnny is frustrated so he enlists the help of Elvis Schmidt (Shawn Hatosy) and Bobby “911” (Alex Solowitz) to kidnap Jake's younger brother Zack (Anton Yelchin) as collateral.
Justin Timberlake and Emile Hirsch
Zacks parents, Olivia (Sharon Stone) and Butch Mazursky (David Thornton), are upset their boy is missing, but no ransom has been made. Zack, unhappy with his parents, treats the kidnapping as a field trip, and becomes a friend to his kidnappers. He's left in the custody of Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake), one of Johnny’s closest friends. Frankie likes Zack and is fearful that Johnny will order him to kill the kid to keep themselves out of jail.
Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake and Olivia Wilde
Alpha Dog is based on a real court case that is still ongoing. Many of the names have been changed since the case is still open. To my surprise Justin Timberlake is not that bad of an actor, despite not having much screen time. Ben Foster also turned in a unique performance as an out-of-control druggy slowly going insane over his brother’s abduction.
I have to mention the horrific performance Sharon Stone turns in as Zack's mom. Just when I thought it was over in the first half of the movie, Stone dawns a fat suit – I can’t say more then that or I will spoil the ending – and I have no doubt that scene will go down as the most useless scene in a movie for 2007. Bruce Willis also makes an appearance as Johnny’s useless father and doesn’t add anything significant to the film.
Whoever let the editing team go nuts with split screen shots throughout the movie should be sent back to film school. The split screen is a miserable attempt at trying to be edgy but conversely is a major distraction. Despite some rather surprisingly good acting by some of the most unlikely of cast members, the film's directing and editing style ultimately ruin Alpha Dog.
Photo Credits: Darren Michaels /Universal Pictures
