Real lives and true stories don't necessarily make sense when reduced to two hours, padded with exploitable sex-and-drugs party scenes to make the experience more appetizing to some.
This much we know: Wealthy narcotics dealer Jesse James Hollywood, who today awaits trial, and some of his gang intended to nail indebted junkie Ben Markowitz. Cruising the San Fernando Valley in search of him, they stumbled onto Ben's 15-year-old half-brother Nick and kidnapped him for ransom. The improvised, ill-judged maneuver went awry.
In "Alpha Dog," written by Nick Cassavetes (son of Gena Rowlands and the late John Cassavetes), Hollywood is renamed Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch), Ben Markowitz becomes Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), and half-brother Nick is called Zack (Anton Yelchin).
Among the many other characters with prominent roles are posse members Frankie (Justin Timberlake), who is the friendliest to the hostage, and Elvis Schmidt (Shawn Hatosy), a Truelove posse member who has a gay fixation on Johnny, who in turn abusively exploits Elvis' attachment.
One of the twists, apparently true, is that the impressionable, hero-worshipping Nick quickly progresses from hostage to eager tag-along, lapping up the aberrant party scene.
Cassavetes sets the 2000 events in 1999, tinkering with some details and inventing others.
The first half of his picture is messy, as if he couldn't figure out how to distill fact and characterizations while superimposing assumptions and dramatizations. He dawdles on depravity when he could be honing and humanizing his focus.
In a way that's reminiscent of "In Cold Blood," there's an effectively awful inevitability to the events depicted. Yet, the film's gripping final scenes do not necessarily constitute a satisfying film experience.
Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Harry Dean Stanton have supporting roles that suggest they want to be part of a Cassavetes -- some Cassavetes -- legacy.
- In semi-wide release.
Additional Information:
Details
'Alpha Dog'Rated R for pervasive drug use and language, strong violence, sexuality and nudity;
Long road to the multiplex
According to the trade paper Variety, 'Alpha Dog' took a particularly slow route to its semi-wide release in an estimated 1,200 theaters today.
Started in 2004, it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival Jan. 27, 2006, was scheduled for release in the fall of 2006. After being screened for critics in several cities, it was postponed until now.
