Alpha Dog (2006)

A drama based on the life of Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list.

Director:

Nick Cassavetes

Writer:

Nick Cassavetes

Stars:

Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	Sonny Truelove
Matthew Barry	...	Interviewer (as Matt Barry)
Emile Hirsch	...	Johnny Truelove
Fernando Vargas	...	Tiko 'TKO' Martinez
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Pick Giaimo
Justin Timberlake	...	Frankie Ballenbacher
Shawn Hatosy	...	Elvis Schmidt
Alex Solowitz	...	Bobby '911'
Alec Vigil	...	P.J. Truelove
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Cosmo Gadabeeti
Frank Cassavetes	...	Adrian Jones
Nicole Dubos	...	Neighborhood Girl on Couch
Regina Rice	...	Dance Bitch Girl
Laura Nativo	...	Party Girl
Ben Foster	...	Jake Mazursky

Storyline

1999, Claremont, California. Middle-class kids, in their 20s, talk trash, wave guns, hang out in a pack. Johnny Truelove, drug dealer and son of a underworld figure, threatens Jake Mazursky, an explosive head case who owes Johnny money; Jake responds by breaking into Johnny's house. On impulse, Johnny and a couple pals kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother, Zach. Zach's okay with it, figuring his brother will pay the debt soon. Johnny assigns his buddy Frankie to be Zach's minder, and they develop a brotherly friendship. Zach parties with his captors as things begin to spin out of control. Group think, amorality, and fear of prison assert a hold on the pack. Is Zach in danger?

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Plot Keywords:

drug dealer | drugs | friendship | claremont california | money | 

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Taglines:

One crime. 3 days. 38 witnesses.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

18A

Details

Official Sites:

Universal Studios [United States]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mâle alpha

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£452,232 (UK) (20 April 2007)

Gross:

£1,955,182 (UK) (18 May 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, A-Mark Entertainment, Alpha Dog LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

2006 Sundance closing film.

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Goofs

The air conditioning unit in the "bust scene" wasn't released until 2006.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sonny Truelove: You wanna know what this is all about? You can say it's about drugs or guns or disaffected youth, or whatever you like. But this whole thing is about parenting. It's about taking care of your children. You take care of yours, I take care of mine.

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits, the following caption appears; For Nickey, May Your Slumber Be Blessed ('Nickey' is Nicholas Markowitz...the 'true' name of ill-fated Zack Mazursky played by Anton Yelchin)

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Connections

Features F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon (2005)

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Soundtracks

Sacrifice
Written by Shawn Murphy, Cornell Saluone, Mark Thomas, Eric Angulo & Gunner Olsen
Performed by Numbs
Courtesy of Position Music

User Reviews

An excellent movie about misguided youth

When I saw the rating of this movie on IMDb.com, I couldn't believe my eyes. This movie definitely deserves a much better rating (around 7 would be the appropriate rating). This is a story about spoiled, misguided teenagers who do nothing but smoke pot, drink and party. Understandably, all of the teenager characters act in accordance with this care-free life style. So, you should expect this sort of behavior from them (a lot of cursing, violence, sex, drug usage, etc.). I think the director did a terrific job of portraying the setting for this type of life style.

There are two rival parties of youngsters and one guy, Jake Mazursky, owes some money to another guy, Johnny Truelove. Jake is a typical unruly teenager but his younger brother Zack is a nice kid who seems to have a brighter future than his older brother. But when Jake refuses to pay off his debt to Johnny Truelove, they kidnap his younger brother Zack as a hostage. Surprisingly, Zack develops a nice rapport with his kidnappers; being a nice kid, he easily connects even with the unruly kind. He doesn't even seem to be willing to escape from his kidnappers.

This is an excellent film showing the extend of damage that can be caused by the misguided youngsters. They live in a world where even the most stupid acts can be accepted as being "cool" or "desirable". Too much pot smoking and drugs, not enough oxygen in the brain cells. Are these kids really that stupid or are they stupefied by all the drugs they take? I think this is a movie all parents should watch and they should watch it really carefully before things are too late.