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entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
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Seen, Heard, Noted & Quoted
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by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
A Rated R 122 min.
I must warn you, if you want to see Alpha Dog and have no idea who Jesse James Hollywood is, you may not want to read much further than this opening paragraph. Because the origins of this movie have been so highly publicized, even as recently as last week, I’m going to assume most EU readers already know the true story behind the film and wont mind if I share elements of its outcome over the next few paragraphs. For those who would rather remain in the dark, I will tell you this: it’s good. Really good. OK, stop reading now…
Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Based on the true story of the abduction and killing of a California teen that was placed in danger after his brother failed to pay a drug dealer, the film centers around the final days of an innocent young man who was never really aware of the danger he was in. Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) is a teen drug dealer who finds himself in a difficult situation when a regular customer (Ben Foster) decides he is not going to pay up. After a couple of fist fights and an incident involving human excrement on his carpet, Johnny decides to take drastic measures and kidnaps his deadbeat customer’s kid brother Zack (Anton Yelchin). Placing their hostage in the not so capable hands of Frankie (Justin Timberlake), Johnny distances himself from the situation to think up his next move. Meanwhile, Zack and Frankie bond in a brotherly type of way and spend their days partying, getting high and playing video games. Zack seems to enjoy his abduction at every step and Frankie seems to really care for his new charge. Things seem to be going smoothly until Johnny finds out that the penalty for kidnapping in life in prison, a chance he and most of his boys are not willing to take.
Alpha Dog is inspired by the real life murder of Nicholas Markowitz, a 15-year-old Los Angles boy who was allegedly abducted by Jesse James Hollywood, a 19-year-old drug dealer, back in August of 2000. Hollywood spent nearly five years as a fugitive and is one of the youngest people ever to appear on the FBI’s ten most-wanted list. On March 8, 2005, Hollywood was finally captured in Brazil and is currently awaiting trial in California. If convicted, Hollywood could face the death penalty.
Filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, best known for the tear-jerker chick-flick The Notebook, gets as far away from his love story stigma as possible in this film. His script is littered with hyper-sexist remarks, homophobic comments and racial slurs. At one point, one of the male characters actually punches a young woman in the face. It is shocking imagery and dialogue when compared to the sappy material Cassavetes is best known for. That said, the film’s intensely unrelenting look at the lives of these teens who in had it all and took full advantage of it is raw and real. Cassavetes gets a great deal of my respect for treading in these waters after finding a loyal, profitable audience with The Notebook. It was a really bold move and I think in the long run it will definitely pay off.
Any viewer who comes into this movie not knowing the events that inspired it will feel as though they have been punched in the gut repeatedly as the credits roll. Alpha Dog starts with home videos of carefree children frolicking in the sand and playing on playgrounds. This sets the tone for the first three quarters of the film where these well off white kids have grown up without boundaries and with plenty of cash to buy as much weed as they can smoke. They do too. These kids party day and night. Even in the midst of a major crisis, somebody is passing the bong. When they abduct Zack into their midst, the partying continues. The captors like Zack. The audience does too. But when the inevitable happens, even when you know it is coming and you’ve been praying the filmmakers would alter history, the viewer feels that loss. We feel like Zack during all that partying. There are plenty of laughs. Everybody is having a good time. But, the last 20 minutes are as much of a shock to us as it is to the boy on the screen. It’s powerful filmmaking.
Most of the acting is fairly unremarkable. Veteran actors Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone have brief roles in the film that are more unforgettable than those who had twice as much screen-time. Perhaps the biggest surprise came from Justin Timberlake who simply stole the whole darn show. His character serves as the moral compass in this ultimately tragic piece and his performance is pitch-perfect from start to finish. If you’ve never had the sheer delight of seeing Justin Timberlake acting like he’s high, you are really in for a treat. SNL showed that JT can do comedy and this film reinforced it and showed that he can do drama just as well. I despise the guy’s music, but I’ll see him on the silver screen anytime!
Overall, Alpha Dog is an excellent film that will no doubt put Timberlake and perhaps a couple of his co-stars on the Hollywood map. The film is well executed and powerful, showing both the highs of excess and the bottom-of-the-barrel lows of desperation. While funny a good portion of the time, this is not the film to watch if you’re looking for a pick-me-up. Although many people, including those who failed to heed my warnings above, already know the film’s ending, Alpha Dog is well worth watching.
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