Released: January 12, 2007
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Shawn Hatosy, Olivia Wilde, Sharon Stone, Ben Foster, Amanda Seyfried, Anton Yelchin
Alpha Dog is a crime drama based on a pretty recent event, in 2000 a 15 year old Nicholas Marlowitz was kidnapped and murdered by a group of drug-dealers that were barely in their 20's at the time. The characters have different names in the film but the situation and circumstances are still the same. The film revolves around Johnny Truelove, a successful drug dealer in California who is living the high life, unfortunately one of his close associates owes him a couple thousand dollars but refuses to pay up. Things snowball from their and the associate ends up trashing Johnny's house. Johnny and his crew retaliate by kidnapping his younger brother and holding him ransom until he pays off his debt.
The kidnapping is portrayed as innocent and light hearted fun at first but things snowball from there and end tragically for everyone involved. The sad reality is that this incident was over $1,200 dollars. The film tries to be a powerful one but it comes up short most of the time, despite the all-star cast of young actors, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, and a pop star, the acting was very dull and lackluster, especially Emile Hirsch. Bruce Willis and Stone were good but their roles were small and they could have used a little more screentime.
It is a decent film at best, but you're not missing much.
The Verdict: 3.0
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