"Alpha Dog"

Ben Foster
Shawn Hatosy
Emile Hirsch
Chris Marquette
Justin Timberlake
Anton Yelchin
Sharon Stone
Bruce Willis
Amanda Seyfried
Olivia Wilde

R           118min           2006


They grew up together in the suburbs of LA, living their own version of the American dream, with every day a blur of partying and looking for the next thrill. Johnny (Emile Hirsch, “Lords of Dogtown”) is the leader in their sordid world of drugs, greed, power and privilege. But when he is double-crossed by another dealer, things quickly begin to spiral out of control, and an impulsive kidnapping leads to a shocking conclusion. – from the back cover

Inspired by the life of Jesse James Hollywood and the kidnap and murder of Nicholas Markowitz. It’s a stark reminder of what happens when parents don’t take the time to get involved in their children’s lives. Several people along the way had chances to change the outcome and that is what is so tragic about this story. It’s also one of the reason everyone should see this movie.

"Alpha Dog" is heartbreaking cautionary tale. It should be a wake up call to parents and make kids realize that they are not invincible and should be mindful of their surroundings. But the fact that nearly forty people knew he was kidnapped and didn’t report it is an egregious criminal negligent on their part. Some of that forty should be charged to. Evil prospers when good people do nothing.

For his part Nick Cassavetes does a great job of capturing the heart of this story. He shows that negligence comes in many forms and that we must be mindful of them. If just one person would have decided to be an individual and notified the police, Marzursky would be alive. Even with knowning how this story ends it still a gripping thriller.

"Alpha Dog" is one of those film that I just could not believe that it happened. Once I took a step back and just analyzed the individual step it just show the darker side of man’s potential. Man’s nature is to be self-serving until the day he dies. It also showed that the destructive nature of man is like dropping a pebble in a pond it has everlasting ripples.

This DVD has only two special features. One special feature is a making of featurette on “Alpha Dog”. The other special feature is a timeline of the eyewitnesses. The also have clips from the movie. There are movie previews for “Breach”, “Children of Men”, “Smokin Aces”, “Hot Fuzz” and “The Hitcher”.

I give it 5/5 Gs.