Alpha Dog (2007)

Teenage wasteland--oh wait, it's sunny California!

"Alpha Dog" is a perfect companion piece to the equally harrowing "Bully". Both films chronicle sordid tales of amoral teenagers living vacant lives filled with the artificial pleasures of sex, drugs, and holding power over one's peers. In "Bully", the casualty of wanton violence was a ruthless, sadistic punk. In "Alpha Dog", the victim is a kid who doesn't come to appreciate his family until he's immersed in a night of boozing, sucking on a bong, and engaging in casual sex in a swimming pool. Played by Anton Yelchin, he's a nice kid, torn between the overbearing yet moral discipline of his parents, and the neurotic, jittery narcotic overload of his older brother. Much of the film focuses on the kid being held "hostage", and the friendship he forms with Justin Timberlake's character. Justin treats him with respect, and the kid responds by trusting him with his life. He even allows Justin to bind his wrists and mouth with electrical tape, accepting this dubious action like a Judas kiss.
The film is energetic, well-paced, and disturbing. It also has smatters of perverse humor. I think the ending speech by Anton Yelchin sums it up perfectly. He says that he's sick of leading a life where he isn't good at anything. He comes to appreciate his mom, who's "the bomb". He's at a turning point, and can choose the right path. Unfortunately, fate will decide otherwise. The parents of most of the film's teenagers are reprehensible; it's obvious the director's message is that screwed-up parenting leads to messed-up kids. Johnny Truelove's dad (played by Bruce Willis) only chastises his son when he does something to threaten the family drug-dealing business. Timberlake's character's father is a drunken womanizer who pulls it together in the morning to go to his suit-and-tie job. His son's work for the day involves pruning the abundant marijuana plants in the backyard. "He has a garden full of vegetables and spices to eat healthy, but drinks liquor every night and fills his veins with drugs. What a hypocrite".
For teenagers to party like this and soak their minds in a cocaine fog means that their parents are not involved. The hard-earned pleasures of sports, playing a musical instrument, or mastering an art are replaced by the glowing rapture of fried brain cells. This leads to poor judgment that can end in murder. Or maybe these kids were just never taught the intrinsic value of human life. That involves parental guidance as well.
July 13, 2008

What would you expect? It's Cassavetes!

When a man like Nick Cassavetes, the director of "She's So Lovely" and "The Notebook", stumbles upon the story of Jesse James, the youngest person ever to be featured on America's Most Wanted, you can expect a riveting vision. It's even better when someone gets the guts to tell that vision. In this case, Cassavetes delivers his baby. I saw this film and had moderate expectations. I was stunned. The movie was phenominal. Not only did Mathew Barry and Nancy Green-Keyes bring in a great cast but Nick Cassavetes brought them to perfection. Everyone from Bruce Willis to Justin Timberlake delivered breakthrough performance. Ben Foster. Emile Hirsch. Everyone. Spectacular. This film was as close to flawless as many films get. Everything from Aaron Zigman's score to Dominic Watkins' production design was marvelous. And if you think the end was harsh, it even adds more drama to your experience and what you thought of the film and helped reveal to you that not everything is Hollywood-perfect. The story is about a group of teens in Southern California who are doing drugs, sex, and having parties all the time. A double-crossing leads to a kidnap that eventually spirals out of control and so the drama begins. On to the extras. Much to my gloom, there is no commentary by Cassavetes or any cast or crew member. Instead, there is an okay making-of-featurette and a witness timeline. It's rather dissapointing since it is not likely that there will bbe a special edition release.
June 21, 2008

Boys, drugs and reckless murder

Movie about middle class boys living in California and indulging all sorts of drugs, alcohol and girls with endless partying and no real purpose in their lives. These boys are part of the clique that is led by their drug dealing friend who is master of manipulation and recklessness. As one of the addicts defaults on his payment for drugs, the war starts between the drug dealer and the obnoxious thug. No one is spared in this war and as it escalates, it starts to include even the family members. Doped, craving for social acceptance and need to prove their manhood, group of young boys abducts a brother of the non-paying low life addict in an effort to get the debt collected. While in their minds this is an innocent game of control and their abducted kid has seeming fun in his captivity, these boys slowly realize that there cannot be good end to their actions. Before long, young man is killed and everyone's destiny starts to unrevel. It is a film about excess, spoilt little suburban kids and their rebellion against nothing in particular, shallowness of the young generation whose parents are too busy making money or indulging themselves to pay attention to their own children and their own destiny. We learn that there has to be moderation in everything, including parental love. Too much love can smother and cause kids to desire to be away from too much attention and adoration that is embarrasing and can inevitably lead only to tragedy. Too much of a sheltered life, just as too much neglect can have equally tragic consequences. The only difference is that the sheltered ends up being a victim while perpetrator is the violator. May 19, 2008

Disturbing, Yet Riveting

ALPHA DOG, a disturbing film based on actual events, aptly illustrates the fact truth is stranger than fiction. A novelist would never be able to make a story like this up--or make it come across as plausible or believable. So because the film is based on a kidnapping/murder that actually occurred, writer/director Nick Cassavetes lets this riveting story play itself out--and fully incorporate a very real human component in the process.

Interspersed with mock-documentary interviews, ALPHA DOG depicts out-of-control teens, punks, hoodlums, and lousy parents. Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), a two-bit drug dealer, has a problem: one of his customers, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), is a deadbeat addict who simply can't, or won't, pay for the dope he's been getting from Johnny. And the more Johnny presses for cash, the more Jake pushes back, until there is nothing but animosity and hatred between them. Opportunity arrives when Johnny stumbles across 15-year-old Zack (Anton Yelchin), Jake's half-brother, and kidnaps him. The message to Jake is clear: pay for the dope. . .or else. Ironically, Zack is completely enjoying his "captivity", as Johnny's pal Frankie (Justin Timberlake) has been assigned to show Zack the ropes, and show him a good time while he's at it. Free from a smothering, overbearing mother (Sharon Stone), Zack is in a hog heaven of his own.

Yet destiny intervenes. The captors learn they have some serious prison time awaiting them for what they have done; suddenly the urge to "off" their captive becomes a viable alternative. And at this point, the situation begins spinning out of control, as Johnny, Frankie, and their entourage are in over their heads, with very tragic consequences. The inevitable is very disturbing and painful to watch, but it is also riveting and acutely compelling.

Everything about ALPHA DOG is riveting, from direction to dialogue (which is very realistic). The large cast excels; Justin Timberlake is surprisingly good; Ben Foster aggressively soaks up the oxygen in every scene he's in (he's over the top in a very believable way). Veterans Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton, and Sharon Stone appear in supporting roles--Stone (in a fat suit and virtually unrecognizable) particularly memorable as the subject of the mock interviews. ALPHA DOG is all too tragic, all too human. . .all too real.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning May 5, 2008

A True Story Heard, But All Too Easily Forgotten.........

It wasn't the toughest of neighborhoods. These kid's had known each other since their first little league games, maybe longer. They grew up, with parents, whom were not the best of influences. Truelove's Father is an example. He is a dealer himself, aiding his son's illegal purchases. Later,Daddy keeps law enforcement from finding his son's whereabouts.
In the eyes of an alpha male, he had to be always right, with a way out of any situation. Truelove was above all,and acted so. He seaked a drug debt owed to him. His debter was expected to pay, or suffer for his inability to pay. With no money coming, Truelove, kidnaps his debter's younger brother, with Truelove's friends,along for the ride.
The teenager is treated well, till the discovery that the "Stolen Kid," will get them a jail sentence. The carefree fun, quickly sours, as an unexpected tragedy unfolds!
It is a shocking story, all too easily forgotten, and or ignored. I could only hope the young actors involved will bring this tragic event to life. The varying fan bases widen these audience ranges. Young people need to see this, as too many believe they can do without consequences.
Frankie's final scene with Zack leaves one with a sea of emotions! May 3, 2008

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