Alpha Dog is the 2006 true story directed by Nick Cassavetes. It runs for 122 minutes & is rated 15. The director Nick Cassavetes has previously directed my favourite film The Notebook starring his Mother Gena Rowlands, he also wrote the script for the video to Justin Timberlake's 'What Goes Around…/… Comes Around'.
The film has an all-star cast including; Emile Hirsch (The Girl Next Door) Justin Timberlake (The Love Guru) Shawn Hatosy (Numb3rs) Ben Foster (30 Days Of Night) Olivia Wilde (The O.C) Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia) Bruce Willis (Die Hard) Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct)
This is based on a true story from 1999/2000 in which a group of young men brutally shot a 15 year old prior to kidnapping him & as they were afraid they would go to prison for the kidnap.
The murder was committed all because of a debt owed to Johnny Truelove by Jake. Eventually after not paying the debt back, Johnny offers people money to kill Jake's 15 year old brother Zach. They refuse. Johnny previously kidnapped Zach in the hope that this would force Jake to pay up but his plan failed. They let Zach go & he knows that if the police become involved he could be looking at a life sentence for kidnap. However Frankie (Timberlake) gets involved, he bonds with Zach & when they have kidnapped him for a second time can't go through with the murder. The boy is eventually shot dead & Johnny Truelove becomes the youngest man ever, at only 20 to appear on the F.B.I's most wanted list.
I had high hopes for this film, I generally enjoy films based around truth & I like crime dramas so I was looking forward to watching this… not to mention that it stars Justin Timberlake! I must say that it does have a good story however it's not told well at all. The film is 2 hours long & could have & should have been shorter in order to keep peoples interest & for them to follow it better.
The film takes a while to get going but as I said it's a strong story which will make you want to watch until the end however I was counting down the minutes until this film ended & was happy when it did.
I would say that if you're looking for a film based on a true crime event then go for 'Zodiac' starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Alpha Dog just seems to be lacking what The Zodiac has. It simply doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat. I was extremely disappointed with this film as I had been told it was very good. The film is very hard to follow at times too which makes it even harder to sustain the audiences interest.
Another thing to bring this film down in my estimation is the lack of many special features. I'm not one of those people that buy films solely because of the bonus features but I know people that can be put off by a lack of them. This one only includes; The Making Of Alpha Dog Witness Timeline Featurette
This film is currently available on play.com for £4.99 but to be honest I wouldn't recommend it. The Zodiac is also available for £7.99 & for those extra £3 you get a much better film with a more established cast & a stronger storyline which will keep you enthralled until the end. Alpha Dog is cheap so you could give it a go & you may like it but there are many films out there that surpass this disappointing true story of such awful events.
The soundtrack to accompany this film is also available from play.com for £5.99 however looking through the song list which consists of 22 songs I have only heard of one artist! I wouldn't waste my money on this!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Carl Franklyn, Carl Franklin - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Meryl Streep, William Hurt, Renee Zellweger, Tom Everett Scott, Nicky Katt, Lauren Graham
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2007 - Drama - Director: Mike Binder - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Mike Binder
I'm sorry for the H, but for this to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in the same detail as your review of the film, not just a passing mention of them.
Expired-Account 01.02.2009 21:22
Don't think I'll bother with this one, well reviewed though
Alpha Dog is an urban drama following the self destruction of Johnny Truelove (Emile ... more
Hirsch) and his gang of friends. Living the thug wannabe's American dream of money beautiful girls and partying in Los Angeles' San Gabriel Valley - their existence i...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Great performances from Ben Foster and Shawn Hatosy. Disadvantages: A weak performance from Emile Hirsch and style-over-substance filmmaking.
afy9mab 07.01.2008 (07.01.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Alpha Dog (DVD)
Advantages: Great performances from Ben Foster and Shawn Hatosy. Disadvantages: A weak performance from Emile Hirsch and style-over-substance filmmaking.
afy9mab 07.01.2008 (07.01.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Alpha Dog (DVD)
Advantages: Good performances by Yelkin and Hirsch, follows story somewhat Disadvantages: Justin Timberlake, Cassavetes' handling of the material and story
eve6kicksass 15.05.2007 (15.05.2007)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of AlphaDog (Wide Screen)-DVD
Advantages: Captures the spirit of these youths very well, great performances by most of the cast Disadvantages: A few bad performances, not a film people of a certain age will enjoy
Feb 1st, 2009
very helpful by (92%):
helpful by (8%):
