Alpha Dog (2007) (Includes Downloadable Movie Ticket)

A Solid Young Cast!

By Gidget  Jun 23, 2007

Pros: A good lesson on the demise of suburbanite parental pampering.

Cons: The sexual behaviour and foul language.

This film starts with clips of children growing up together in the suburbs relishing the splenour of suburban living. As the film develops, however, one gets a glimpse on the point that suburban materialism is no substitute for true parental love and... discipline. These kids obviously lacked them. The parents do learn where they've failed, but much too late! "Alpha Dog" provides a grim, depressing look at the dark underbelly of American society where amoral, disenfranchised and disaffected youth play life-and-death games with drugs and guns, often with tragic consequences. In the case of this story, what begins almost as a spontaneous lark suddenly turns into deadly serious business as events begin to spiral further and further out of control and the story races ever more rapidly to its pre-ordained and inexorably tragic conclusion. Cassavetes has written a tight script that captures the fast-paced, drug-soaked milieu in which these young people do their "business." Yet, even though a number of the boys display a callous disregard for life, there are others who see the wrongness of what they are doing but who, through fear or misplaced loyalty or simply a belief that things "would never really go that far," fail to put the brakes on the whole sordid affair before it is too late. It is in that context that Truelove relinquishes his role as the main focal point of the film in favor of Frankie Ballenbacher, a cheerfully sardonic wise guy whose job it is to watch over the boy while Johnny figures out what next to do with him. As Frankie becomes more and more attached to the kid, it becomes harder and harder for him to comply with Johnny's ultimate order of liquidating him. Frankie, thus, becomes the emotional buy-in point for the audience, even more so than the kidnapped boy himself. There are fine performances by Emile Hirsch, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Foster ("Six Feet Under"), Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton and Sharon Stone, among others, but it is Justin Timberlake, as the high-strung but basically goodhearted Frankie, who walks off with the film. In his every moment on screen, the charismatic Timberlake brings an intensity, shrewdness and liveliness to his performance that bodes well for his future career in movies. Read more Less