Alpha Dog on DVD (2006)

Not bad at all.

Not so Silent Bob from Edinburgh [Highly rated reviewer] , 27/09/2007

This was surprisingly good. It does lack somewhat in depth but I suppose target audience does apply. Willis does a good job acting against type and shock horror ole timberhead is pretty good, though there might be a arguement he was playing himself in most scenes!

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Good, but flawed

Meako [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/04/2007

Based on the life of Jesse James Hollywood, one of the youngest men to ever make the FBI Most Wanted list, this film has changed the names, I can only assume, to protect the innocent (or perhaps because the real life Hollywood objected to his portrayal). Either way, in the film Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) is a young drug dealer who is living the gangster life. His crew consist of Tiko (Fernando Vargas), Elvis (Shawn Hotosy), and Friankie (Justin Timberlake). When an associate of Truelove's, Jake (Ben Foster) is unable to pay off his debt, a rivalry build between the two. Truelove, in a spur of the moment decision, kidnaps Jake's brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin), who becomes a willing participant in his kidnapping, lapping up the gangster life with Frankie as his 'minder'. However with events slowly spiraling out of control, Truelove starts trying to work a way out of the desperate situation he has placed himself in.

Director Nick Cassavettes has followed The Notebook (his last film) with a totally different tone of film, and delivers an impressive, albeit slightly flawed, result. The mainly young cast slide into their parts with expertise, with Timberlake particularly standing out. As minder to the kidnapped kid, his role is the largest one on screen, and he defies the nay-sayers who doubted his switch to movies by delivering a performance that promises that this could be an actor to watch out for in the future. Support to the young cast is at hand in the forms of Sharon Stone and Bruce Willis.

The occasional documentary-like moments with Willis and Stone being interviewed about events remind the audience that, although marginally fictionalised, this is still a true story, and during the main moments of the story, the on-screen prompts counting the witnesses make you realise how careless the gang were, whilst also highlighting how many people would simply turn and look away rather than report something they see. A shocking snapshot of the fear-filled society of the film.

The film does have a few flaws. It starts off a bit slow, with the film offering no reason why we should really care about events which transpire. Sharon Stone's later moments in the film, where (as the mother of Zack) she delivers a powerful, and moving speech to camera would be more impressive were she not wearing a fat-suit which makes that in Shallow Hal look real! The smaller errors (such as the gang playing Halo on an X-Box when the film is set 2 years before the machine was made) can be overlooked.

Overall this is a worthwhile film to watch, just not really something that demands viewing on the big screen. It is also a good showcase of what Timberlake can do, and for that alone Alpha Dog gets a thumbs up

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DON'T MISS THIS!!A film well worth watching!

A customer from North London , 26/04/2007

I was really impressed with the performances from Timberlake, Foster and Melchin in this movie. I have just seen Justin in 'Edison' and thought that the boy has potential in acting. He certainly takes a leap (and shines)in this flick as Frankie, Johnny Truelove's /AKA Jesse James Hollywood's 'boy'.Based on a true story of the youngest criminal wanted by the FBI, it just makes you think that following a life of crime is really not for people with brains or intelligence. Certainly killing an innocent boy as a form of damage limitation has got to be the stupidest idea ever. Some great scenes in this movie: Foster as the raving Mazursky delivers a masterful, convincing performance. Melchin as his 15 year old likeable, younger brother that gets kidnapped and killed. Performances that did no justice to the film was Hirsch as Truelove. He was badly cast, and was portrayed as a simpering twat. I think they could have made his character less one dimensional. Hirsch performance lacked something, I think they should have cast someone else instead, Hirsch just didn't convince me. Plus Stone should really retire from the movies.Her crying scene in the end as the fat, distressed mother of the young boy was OTT and so badly acted I was embarassed for her. Overall those 2 bad casting choices did not put a mark on this great effort of a movie. I thought the end was tongue and cheek when they played the song 'Goodbye Hollywood' in the background as Truelove is about to get caught. Plus he gets caught in Brazil, but because of the court case blocking any info relating to actual case facts, the movie had to say that Truelove /Hollywood was caught in Paraguay, yet in the background the movie ends with the song 'The girls in Ipanema' (or whatever the song is called). I liked that: people that know the Hollywood story will appreciate those subtleties. A deserving end to a story well worth telling.

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turned it off after an hour

A customer from Blackpool, England , 30/10/2007

I thought this film would be good having a good cast, but it wasn't what i expected. I got bored and turned it off after an hour. Maybe I should of tried to keep watching, then I could write a fairer review, but then again I said that to myself after half an hour and it didn't get any better :-(

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alpha dog

A customer from St. Helens , 06/03/2008

a bit slow but not a bad film

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kids?

TedZonk from Falkirk [Highly rated reviewer] , 17/02/2008

Started off a bit confusing and dull but built up to be a good story. The cast are supposed to be teenagers so it would be best to keep this in mind whilst watching as I did not realise that at first. This kind of makes a difference with their behaviour.

Recommended.

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